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WEBVTT

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Welcome.

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Gosh, I

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wish my

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class would quiet down so much

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when I get in front of them.

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Those of you

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that have had me know

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that doesn't happen.

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My name's Keith.

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I'm a professor in the

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special ed department,

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and I'm really pleased to be here

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to introduce our speaker Keith Jones,

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who I think you will find has some

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very important messages for all of us.

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And I want to mention that this

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this speech,

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this talk

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has been provided

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by a grant from the Ershigs,

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who also sponsor

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the Ershig Assistive

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Technology Resource Center...I

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probably should be using my mic.

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So sponsored

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by the partly by the Ershig family,

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who also supports

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the Ershig Assistive

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Technology Resource Center

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that we have in our Woodring College

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and the Assistive Technology

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Resource Center is essentially

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a loaning library,

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a place that anybody can come and check

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different assistive technologies that we

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have that

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may help people with disabilities.

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But we've also found that a lot

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of our assistive

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technologies are helpful

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for people without disabilities, too,

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who may have some

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some learning challenges

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or some temporary challenges.

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We have information on a table right,

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right outside in the hallway

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if you want to pick that up.

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We also have some

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information on our website.

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And

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mentioned that

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Keith has--he's done so much,

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I made myself notes so I wouldn't forget.

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He's president

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and CEO of Soul-Touching Experience

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and organization

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and a bringing perspective

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to the issues of access,

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inclusion and empowerment,

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which affect him

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as well

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as other people with disabilities.

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Mr.

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Jones is extremely active

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in multicultural

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cross disability education

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and outreach

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efforts

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to enable and empower

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people with disabilities to be

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included members of society

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and also be included

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in this broader discussion

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of social justice. And

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unfortunately, when we

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look at discussions of social justice,

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very often

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the disability

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community has been neglected

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and that so that's

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a very important aspect

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He's I think his hopes

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are also very important in his time

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in society as we're seeing politicians

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and radio hosts

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mock people with disabilities.

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Some people say that politicians

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state that

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watching the Paralympics

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was very difficult

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which is certainly not

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an empowering statement

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or evolving statement.

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And we've also had legislation

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in the House

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designed to weaken the Americans

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with this

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excuse me, Americans

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with Disabilities Act

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and make it even more difficult

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for people with disabilities

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So Keith has also been featured in films.

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Those of you in my classes

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or any of the special

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ed classes will certainly be seen

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or will see including Samuel.

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If you have if

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it's available through

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Western's library, you can stream it

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He's also in Maggie Daubins

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legend has it.

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He has been recognized locally

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and actually is a strong advocate

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on a wide variety of issues

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and is recipient of

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numerous awards,

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including this one after this long

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the prestigious new

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Leadership Development Award

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from the President's

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Council on Employment of People

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with Disabilities So with that

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hey.

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I'm going to pass it over.

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To someone right now.

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Have my newest. Friend. There you go.

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Thank you, Keith.

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And the funny talking to you.

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So how y'all doing?

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All right.

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Well, again, thank you for having me.

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Thank you.

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To Western Washington University

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for inviting me

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my first time in the Evergreen State.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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And it's just as great as I thought it

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would be.

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Although I love it.

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The people have been awesome.

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Everybody's been great.

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I wanted to

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they were just going to have a

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you know, I'm not going to talk at you.

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You know,

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some people get up and go,

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oh, my God, it's so depressing.

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I could do that. But no, that's boring.

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So we're going to have fun,

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but we're going to talk about

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is why it's important

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you know, why you're here in college

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and what are you going to do at the

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you get drunk, inappropriately,

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cram for tests.

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Or.

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Do your paper at the last minute,

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put the margins

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extra wide so you can get to the 15 page

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could triple space in between the pair

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shouldn't didn't tell you any of that.

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So Keith,

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if you see them just ignore it and

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that they never

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But but I wanted to

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ask you

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because as I sit here

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and you know

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you hear the introduction, I'm.

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Like did all in that.

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Mean I realized how old I

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Well I'm here

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because I think what's important

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is that you guys

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and you guys showed up, which is great.

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But we talk about disability

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in a very unique sense.

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You know,

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we talk about disability in terms of.

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Oh, my God, isn't it

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amazing that he went to college?

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Oh, my God.

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Did so.

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Now,

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just to tell you a little about myself,

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I was born last millenia.

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Oh, my God.

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I'm sorry.

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Only having a moment.

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Like a time.

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There was no inclusion.

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So when I came along, my school

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were strictly for kids with disabilities.

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And at the time,

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they were called school

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for the handicapped.

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There was no

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there was no concept to us going beyond

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that school.

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They would

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keep us in that school until we were 22.

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And then once we turned 22,

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we get an SSI check,

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and they would put us

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either in a group home

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or end senior housing.

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So the reality of people with disability,

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particularly of the age

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between the ages of 18 and 22,

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is you don't have a parent who likes you.

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I hope your parent likes you.

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You know, if you had to get out

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you people face challenges.

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So, you know,

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you worried about what you're going to do

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when you graduate.

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Most students with disabilities,

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when they talk about going to college.

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Do you guys remember

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when you started thinking about

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applying to school

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and getting all excited

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and taking your SATs

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and things like that?

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That really doesn't happen for students.

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Look into special education,

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at least not regularly without a fight

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without a hard fought journey

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just to get to the point

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where you can be with your peers.

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I'm going to ask the question.

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You don't have to snitch on yourself.

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How many of you participated

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in this

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in your day to day in high school?

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And I know people are

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raising their hands, although

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your teachers are

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not here, you're good, you're good.

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But I you know, as a student

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with a disability,

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you know,

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you really can't sneak

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out of the classroom in a wheelchair

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and be like

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And so.

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Those are some of the things.

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And basic things like,

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you know, homecoming

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The things that you would do

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as a high school student

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before you came here

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are not really afforded

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to students with disabilities

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unless they are fought for,

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unless they are included.

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And inclusion has become like a sexy

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kind of catchphrase, like,

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hey, we should include students

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with disabilities in class.

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Yeah, well,

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maybe you should just include students

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and just teach

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versus saying this child is a diagnosis

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so he can't be in my class.

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Just to give you an example of 19.

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I'm scared to say

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the year, but I will say it out

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loud anyway.

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1978.

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Hmm. Damn.

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I just.

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It hurt 90.

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8000.

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88 in upstate New York.

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The school is Lansing.

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It was a Lansing elementary school.

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I walked through the door

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as the only child of color.

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The only person of color

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the only person with a disability

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because I was the first one

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to be included

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in their entire school districts.

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Which was,

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uh, hmm.

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And adventure.

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So every day, and I don't know anybody

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with Converse,

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the old Chuck Taylors

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with the Rubber Soul in the till.

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I used to rock those,

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those were my joint.

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We'd stand in line at lunch time,

295
00:09:25.965 --> 00:09:26.699
but every day I would.

296
00:09:26.699 --> 00:09:28.200
Go to class to like, if you're a.

297
00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:30.202
Cripple while you drool like that.

298
00:09:30.202 --> 00:09:31.170
And I would be teased

299
00:09:31.170 --> 00:09:32.171
and tortured and taunted,

300
00:09:33.372 --> 00:09:34.707
and I would go to the teachers

301
00:09:34.707 --> 00:09:35.908
and say,

302
00:09:36.142 --> 00:09:37.376
you know, they're teasing me

303
00:09:37.376 --> 00:09:38.945
and torturing me.

304
00:09:38.945 --> 00:09:40.546
And the teachers are like, Oh, shut up.

305
00:09:40.546 --> 00:09:41.847
Just go on.

306
00:09:41.981 --> 00:09:43.916
Because they have not had a student

307
00:09:43.916 --> 00:09:45.151
with the disability

308
00:09:45.151 --> 00:09:48.354
in their entire teaching career.

309
00:09:48.354 --> 00:09:50.323
They did not make the connection that

310
00:09:50.323 --> 00:09:52.592
if you let kids bully

311
00:09:52.592 --> 00:09:54.493
those who are different,

312
00:09:54.493 --> 00:09:57.096
then you are setting a very bad precedent

313
00:09:57.096 --> 00:09:59.599
because they picked the wrong one.

314
00:09:59.599 --> 00:10:00.366
Yeah.

315
00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:02.935
So they would bully me.

316
00:10:02.935 --> 00:10:04.470
The abuse.

317
00:10:04.470 --> 00:10:07.540
I emphasize try.

318
00:10:07.540 --> 00:10:08.908
Well, let's put it this way.

319
00:10:08.908 --> 00:10:11.177
My mother had her own parking spot

320
00:10:11.177 --> 00:10:12.011
next to.

321
00:10:12.712 --> 00:10:12.979
A.

322
00:10:13.646 --> 00:10:14.780
Field

323
00:10:15.481 --> 00:10:16.482
and they would come out

324
00:10:16.482 --> 00:10:18.684
and that was one day So Tommy,

325
00:10:18.818 --> 00:10:20.720
I remember his name distinctly

326
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.787
because I kicked his ass in the

327
00:10:21.787 --> 00:10:23.222
line, but there's no story

328
00:10:25.358 --> 00:10:27.360
And but it was like,

329
00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.930
what was the purpose of being then

330
00:10:31.697 --> 00:10:33.899
a child with a disability was in school.

331
00:10:34.834 --> 00:10:37.036
What's the point of being upset

332
00:10:37.036 --> 00:10:38.371
that a student with a disability

333
00:10:38.371 --> 00:10:40.773
wants to be included in your class?

334
00:10:40.806 --> 00:10:41.007
Like,

335
00:10:41.007 --> 00:10:43.142
what's the reason that a teacher

336
00:10:43.142 --> 00:10:44.477
would be so upset?

337
00:10:44.477 --> 00:10:47.013
That there's a different kind of student.

338
00:10:47.013 --> 00:10:48.848
In her class classroom.

339
00:10:48.948 --> 00:10:51.851
Because she was uncomfortable?

340
00:10:51.851 --> 00:10:53.119
And if you're not comfortable

341
00:10:53.119 --> 00:10:54.553
with my disability,

342
00:10:54.553 --> 00:10:56.822
it's not my job to make you comfortable.

343
00:10:57.423 --> 00:10:59.692
And I have a sick sense of humor.

344
00:10:59.692 --> 00:11:02.061
So I'll make you extremely uncomfortable.

345
00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:04.597
Like, you walk up and sneeze - achoo!

346
00:11:04.597 --> 00:11:06.332
- Oh, my God.

347
00:11:06.332 --> 00:11:08.834
You have cerebral palsy now.

348
00:11:11.737 --> 00:11:12.171
I don't know.

349
00:11:12.171 --> 00:11:13.639
You better go get some rubbing alcohol.

350
00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:15.307
You'll be okay.

351
00:11:16.942 --> 00:11:18.344
But you have to have

352
00:11:18.344 --> 00:11:19.478
that kind of mentality

353
00:11:19.478 --> 00:11:21.580
because people will look at you and say

354
00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:23.382
the most asinine things.

355
00:11:24.483 --> 00:11:24.884
And that

356
00:11:24.884 --> 00:11:27.920
was 40 years ago.

357
00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:29.255
40 years later,

358
00:11:29.255 --> 00:11:30.856
on the way here--and Keith,

359
00:11:30.856 --> 00:11:34.160
I had told you about this yesterday--when

360
00:11:34.160 --> 00:11:36.195
I landed at your lovely airport

361
00:11:36.729 --> 00:11:38.798
-- nobody knew that I knew English.

362
00:11:41.701 --> 00:11:42.802
I was like, what the hell?

363
00:11:42.802 --> 00:11:43.636
How do you not know?

364
00:11:43.636 --> 00:11:45.705
I'm like, I'm speaking English.

365
00:11:46.472 --> 00:11:50.109
I mean, you guys understand me, right?

366
00:11:50.109 --> 00:11:51.777
And I got off the plane.

367
00:11:51.777 --> 00:11:54.313
Can he walk down the plane?

368
00:11:54.313 --> 00:11:56.916
Walk down the plane, jump off

369
00:11:56.916 --> 00:11:58.250
and go walk?

370
00:11:59.518 --> 00:12:00.553
Do you need help?

371
00:12:00.553 --> 00:12:02.254
Does he need help?

372
00:12:02.254 --> 00:12:04.256
You can ask. Me.

373
00:12:04.256 --> 00:12:06.292
Do you need help?

374
00:12:06.392 --> 00:12:08.227
This is how they talk to me.

375
00:12:08.227 --> 00:12:08.761
Okay.

376
00:12:08.761 --> 00:12:10.329
I got a sick sense of humor, [labored]

377
00:12:10.329 --> 00:12:12.398
"I need help."

378
00:12:14.133 --> 00:12:14.633
Oh, my God.

379
00:12:14.633 --> 00:12:17.269
Oh, my God. And why?

380
00:12:17.870 --> 00:12:20.139
Because apparently you have a disability.

381
00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:22.007
You can't answer any questions.

382
00:12:23.042 --> 00:12:23.943
At all.

383
00:12:23.943 --> 00:12:25.611
So I get off the plane,

384
00:12:25.611 --> 00:12:27.179
I'll get in the wheelchair.

385
00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:28.414
Is anybody meeting you?

386
00:12:28.414 --> 00:12:30.316
Yes, I have somebody meeting me.

387
00:12:30.316 --> 00:12:31.817
Oh, that's so sweet.

388
00:12:31.817 --> 00:12:32.585
And then they start

389
00:12:32.585 --> 00:12:34.053
talking to each other.

390
00:12:34.053 --> 00:12:35.054
Is he going somewhere?

391
00:12:35.054 --> 00:12:36.789
I think he's going to meet somebody.

392
00:12:36.789 --> 00:12:38.457
And I'm just sitting there like,

393
00:12:38.457 --> 00:12:39.492
you know, I can hear.

394
00:12:39.492 --> 00:12:39.925
You.

395
00:12:42.294 --> 00:12:44.296
I'm the only black man on the tarmac.

396
00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.065
I can hear you

397
00:12:47.266 --> 00:12:48.467
But again, the assumption,

398
00:12:48.467 --> 00:12:51.003
what is wheelchair disability?

399
00:12:51.504 --> 00:12:52.872
Clearly,

400
00:12:53.205 --> 00:12:53.973
he can't do it.

401
00:12:53.973 --> 00:12:55.174
Only though

402
00:12:55.708 --> 00:12:57.710
I was like, oh, I'm so proud of you.

403
00:12:57.710 --> 00:12:59.845
You traveled all by yourself.

404
00:12:59.845 --> 00:13:03.015
The hell is wrong with you.

405
00:13:03.382 --> 00:13:03.783
You know what?

406
00:13:03.783 --> 00:13:04.717
I'm proud of you

407
00:13:04.717 --> 00:13:06.152
because you haven't forgot to breathe

408
00:13:06.152 --> 00:13:07.653
yet, so.

409
00:13:08.287 --> 00:13:09.321
All right.

410
00:13:11.757 --> 00:13:13.726
But that's the kind of mentality that

411
00:13:13.726 --> 00:13:14.426
people have,

412
00:13:15.461 --> 00:13:16.829
is that people with disabilities

413
00:13:16.829 --> 00:13:18.831
have to be simply heroes to do

414
00:13:18.831 --> 00:13:20.933
basic stuff.

415
00:13:21.033 --> 00:13:21.233
Like,

416
00:13:21.233 --> 00:13:22.835
we need to be extra ordinary

417
00:13:22.835 --> 00:13:25.571
in order to go grocery shopping.

418
00:13:25.571 --> 00:13:28.307
To give you an example, a friend of mine,

419
00:13:29.141 --> 00:13:30.543
it was a good day. Because it was payday.

420
00:13:30.543 --> 00:13:31.076
I had a check,

421
00:13:31.076 --> 00:13:32.578
and I was like, Yes,

422
00:13:32.578 --> 00:13:34.780
money in my pocket, woop!

423
00:13:34.780 --> 00:13:35.414
woop!

424
00:13:35.414 --> 00:13:38.818
Heineken in the refrigerator!

425
00:13:39.218 --> 00:13:41.554
So we go up to the window

426
00:13:41.554 --> 00:13:43.389
to cash the check,

427
00:13:43.389 --> 00:13:44.356
me and my friend, we're sitting there

428
00:13:44.356 --> 00:13:46.192
just talking

429
00:13:46.258 --> 00:13:47.760
much like everybody else does

430
00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:49.261
when they're out with your friend.

431
00:13:49.261 --> 00:13:51.230
And there was a gentleman in front of us.

432
00:13:51.230 --> 00:13:51.797
Cashed his check,

433
00:13:51.797 --> 00:13:53.699
went on about his business.

434
00:13:53.699 --> 00:13:54.900
We minding our business.

435
00:13:54.900 --> 00:13:57.369
Cash my check, get my money.

436
00:13:57.369 --> 00:13:58.571
The man looks at me

437
00:13:58.571 --> 00:14:00.372
and looks at my friend and says.

438
00:14:00.372 --> 00:14:02.508
Is it okay if I give him some money?

439
00:14:04.944 --> 00:14:07.646
You better say yes.

440
00:14:08.781 --> 00:14:10.182
And I didn't know to be offended

441
00:14:10.182 --> 00:14:12.184
or to feel like a cheap prostitute.

442
00:14:12.184 --> 00:14:13.819
I didn't know.

443
00:14:15.054 --> 00:14:16.488
But I'm sitting there now.

444
00:14:16.488 --> 00:14:18.624
I had clearly just cash my check.

445
00:14:19.391 --> 00:14:20.226
He saw. This.

446
00:14:20.226 --> 00:14:22.094
He saw the money go in my pocket, but.

447
00:14:22.094 --> 00:14:22.895
He still turned to my.

448
00:14:22.895 --> 00:14:23.495
Cousin and says "Can

449
00:14:23.495 --> 00:14:24.964
I give him some money?"

450
00:14:25.030 --> 00:14:27.900
And my cousin just went "Ask him."

451
00:14:29.702 --> 00:14:32.004
Yeah, right.

452
00:14:32.004 --> 00:14:33.472
I'm not going to say no, bruh.

453
00:14:33.472 --> 00:14:34.006
Like

454
00:14:35.841 --> 00:14:37.176
But he started feeling.

455
00:14:37.176 --> 00:14:38.944
Like he had his wad of money.

456
00:14:38.944 --> 00:14:39.478
And I'm like,

457
00:14:39.478 --> 00:14:39.912
Okay,

458
00:14:39.912 --> 00:14:40.646
because I'm looking

459
00:14:40.646 --> 00:14:42.514
at the top of the stack--it's

460
00:14:42.514 --> 00:14:42.915
all hundreds.

461
00:14:43.215 --> 00:14:45.751
Hell yeah, Ima take your money.

462
00:14:45.751 --> 00:14:46.218
So he starts

463
00:14:46.218 --> 00:14:46.752
peeling back

464
00:14:46.752 --> 00:14:48.754
hundreds, and I'm like, okay.

465
00:14:48.754 --> 00:14:50.122
You can stop, but he didn't.

466
00:14:50.122 --> 00:14:52.024
He kept going in there with $50.

467
00:14:52.024 --> 00:14:52.791
Okay.

468
00:14:52.825 --> 00:14:54.894
He gets all the way down to the $1 bills.

469
00:14:55.794 --> 00:14:57.062
It's like, here's three.

470
00:14:57.062 --> 00:14:57.863
Wait, damn.

471
00:14:57.863 --> 00:14:58.397
Get the hell outta here.

472
00:14:58.397 --> 00:14:59.265
I took it, though.

473
00:15:02.434 --> 00:15:05.738
But why did he do that?

474
00:15:05.938 --> 00:15:07.573
That's like, what the.

475
00:15:07.573 --> 00:15:09.942
Yeah, that's a reason, he was an ass.

476
00:15:09.942 --> 00:15:11.377
There's a good reason.

477
00:15:11.911 --> 00:15:13.579
But he did it. Why?

478
00:15:13.579 --> 00:15:16.448
I mean, he saw. Us cash a check.

479
00:15:16.448 --> 00:15:18.817
He saw me put money in my pocket,

480
00:15:18.817 --> 00:15:20.920
and he still was determined to

481
00:15:21.987 --> 00:15:24.690
help the poor cripple guy,

482
00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:26.025
as opposed to understanding that

483
00:15:26.025 --> 00:15:27.393
the money that I was cash

484
00:15:27.393 --> 00:15:27.826
the check

485
00:15:27.826 --> 00:15:28.827
that in cash

486
00:15:28.827 --> 00:15:31.230
came from something called a job.

487
00:15:32.131 --> 00:15:33.866
You know, that thing that you go to work

488
00:15:33.866 --> 00:15:35.567
and they pay you for it.

489
00:15:35.567 --> 00:15:37.202
But he could not conceive.

490
00:15:37.202 --> 00:15:38.938
Of a person with a disability.

491
00:15:38.938 --> 00:15:41.607
Having a job.

492
00:15:41.607 --> 00:15:42.875
And apparently -- now

493
00:15:42.875 --> 00:15:44.343
I can make all kinds of assumptions

494
00:15:44.343 --> 00:15:46.445
about how he came to that conclusion.

495
00:15:46.445 --> 00:15:47.947
But my cousin looked at me

496
00:15:47.947 --> 00:15:48.981
like, oh,

497
00:15:48.981 --> 00:15:50.549
did he just really give you money

498
00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:52.551
after you cashed a check? I said mmmhm.

499
00:15:53.118 --> 00:15:54.453
And I said, he

500
00:15:54.453 --> 00:15:55.754
coulda shoulda gave me a car.

501
00:15:55.754 --> 00:15:58.223
But, you know, next time, right?

502
00:16:00.592 --> 00:16:02.261
But these are the things that.

503
00:16:02.261 --> 00:16:03.996
As much as we talk about education

504
00:16:03.996 --> 00:16:05.230
and inclusion,

505
00:16:05.230 --> 00:16:06.598
you are only in school

506
00:16:06.598 --> 00:16:08.701
for 16 years, maybe 20.

507
00:16:08.934 --> 00:16:11.437
Depending on how long you go.

508
00:16:11.437 --> 00:16:14.540
But you're in society for another 60, 70.

509
00:16:16.308 --> 00:16:17.209
You should be prepared

510
00:16:17.209 --> 00:16:20.312
to treat individuals as humans.

511
00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:24.016
You don't have to like everybody.

512
00:16:24.016 --> 00:16:24.283
You--and

513
00:16:25.117 --> 00:16:25.784
trust me,

514
00:16:25.784 --> 00:16:26.752
everybody probably won't like you--but

515
00:16:26.752 --> 00:16:28.754
you need to have the ability

516
00:16:28.754 --> 00:16:30.389
to not look at somebody

517
00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:32.825
and instantly make a snap judgment.

518
00:16:32.825 --> 00:16:33.692
Oh, he's in a wheelchair

519
00:16:33.692 --> 00:16:35.761
so clearly something's wrong.

520
00:16:35.761 --> 00:16:37.029
Probably cause he's drunk.

521
00:16:37.029 --> 00:16:39.665
But that's a whole other story.

522
00:16:39.665 --> 00:16:41.500
I know friends who drink and drive.

523
00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:42.368
Did you know--this

524
00:16:42.368 --> 00:16:44.003
is a complete digression--but

525
00:16:44.003 --> 00:16:45.404
did you know that

526
00:16:45.404 --> 00:16:47.606
if you had too many drinks in Tilly's

527
00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:49.375
and you're in a wheelchair,

528
00:16:49.375 --> 00:16:50.943
they will cut you off

529
00:16:50.943 --> 00:16:52.244
for drinking and driving?

530
00:16:54.813 --> 00:16:56.882
I had no idea until I got to the third

531
00:16:57.216 --> 00:16:59.151
rum and coke, and the lady was like,

532
00:16:59.151 --> 00:17:01.186
We can't serve you anymore. What?

533
00:17:01.387 --> 00:17:02.588
Why not?

534
00:17:02.855 --> 00:17:04.857
Because you're driving.

535
00:17:07.626 --> 00:17:09.261
Okay.

536
00:17:10.229 --> 00:17:11.930
I was, How much time do I have

537
00:17:11.930 --> 00:17:13.899
till I get the next one?

538
00:17:14.266 --> 00:17:15.667
But those are the kind of things

539
00:17:15.667 --> 00:17:16.702
that, you know, in society,

540
00:17:16.702 --> 00:17:17.836
we go out and-- like,

541
00:17:17.836 --> 00:17:19.838
you think about it, you go to class,

542
00:17:19.838 --> 00:17:22.541
but what's the fun part of college?

543
00:17:22.541 --> 00:17:24.910
I think other than homework?

544
00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:26.345
It's hanging out with your friends,

545
00:17:26.345 --> 00:17:27.946
making new friends,

546
00:17:27.946 --> 00:17:29.281
going to parties, visiting,

547
00:17:29.281 --> 00:17:31.617
going to football games, and sporting

548
00:17:31.617 --> 00:17:32.684
events and homecoming

549
00:17:32.684 --> 00:17:33.919
and all of this stuff.

550
00:17:33.919 --> 00:17:36.155
Having those illegal underground parties

551
00:17:36.155 --> 00:17:38.457
in the dorms that your

552
00:17:38.457 --> 00:17:39.058
your dorm,

553
00:17:39.058 --> 00:17:40.893
your hall monitors are not supposed to

554
00:17:40.893 --> 00:17:42.061
know your door monitors.

555
00:17:43.228 --> 00:17:45.864
But as a student with a disability,

556
00:17:45.864 --> 00:17:47.866
those things seem like fantasies

557
00:17:48.801 --> 00:17:51.503
because the graduation rate

558
00:17:51.503 --> 00:17:54.807
is abysmal for students in four years

559
00:17:54.807 --> 00:17:55.641
with disabilities

560
00:17:55.641 --> 00:17:58.243
who don't have IEPs, or who have IEPs.

561
00:17:58.944 --> 00:17:59.678
Now, the last time

562
00:17:59.678 --> 00:18:02.147
I think I checked the cohort data

563
00:18:02.147 --> 00:18:02.581
this morning,

564
00:18:02.581 --> 00:18:04.016
so I don't want to

565
00:18:04.216 --> 00:18:06.452
completely misrepresent it,

566
00:18:06.452 --> 00:18:09.388
but the students graduating in four years

567
00:18:09.922 --> 00:18:10.989
with special education

568
00:18:10.989 --> 00:18:13.092
and 504s or IEPs, is roughly

569
00:18:13.092 --> 00:18:14.593
is about 20-30%

570
00:18:14.593 --> 00:18:17.529
for the state of Washington.

571
00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:19.898
That's in four years.

572
00:18:20.032 --> 00:18:23.335
And then it goes up for over a fifth year

573
00:18:23.702 --> 00:18:24.603
over the six years.

574
00:18:24.603 --> 00:18:26.972
They did a--they just adjusted it

575
00:18:26.972 --> 00:18:28.607
for October's

576
00:18:28.607 --> 00:18:30.843
cohorts in the state of Washington.

577
00:18:30.843 --> 00:18:32.444
So that means if you were student with

578
00:18:32.444 --> 00:18:34.012
a disability,

579
00:18:34.313 --> 00:18:36.181
and you came in with your friend,

580
00:18:36.181 --> 00:18:37.583
your friend was five times

581
00:18:37.583 --> 00:18:38.851
more likely to graduate on

582
00:18:38.851 --> 00:18:39.785
time than you were.

583
00:18:41.787 --> 00:18:43.522
Why is that?

584
00:18:43.522 --> 00:18:45.157
Is it because your friend was smarter?

585
00:18:45.157 --> 00:18:46.191
Probably not.

586
00:18:46.191 --> 00:18:48.527
Probably have the same smarts.

587
00:18:48.527 --> 00:18:49.895
But if you had a diagnosis

588
00:18:49.895 --> 00:18:52.564
and they did not, instantly

589
00:18:52.564 --> 00:18:55.234
you were put on the path to nothing.

590
00:18:56.568 --> 00:18:57.469
People put students

591
00:18:57.469 --> 00:18:59.037
with disabilities and say, Oh,

592
00:18:59.037 --> 00:19:00.105
well, we'll put him on

593
00:19:00.105 --> 00:19:01.373
a transition program.

594
00:19:01.373 --> 00:19:03.008
Transitioning to what?

595
00:19:03.008 --> 00:19:06.145
If you transition me to a winning

596
00:19:06.145 --> 00:19:08.213
lottery ticket, I'm cool. And.

597
00:19:08.914 --> 00:19:11.049
But if you transition me to poverty.

598
00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:12.751
I'm not cool.

599
00:19:13.418 --> 00:19:15.521
The average SSI recipient

600
00:19:15.888 --> 00:19:18.724
receives $790 a month.

601
00:19:20.159 --> 00:19:22.661
That's $9600 a year.

602
00:19:23.562 --> 00:19:26.632
So you ain't poor, you extra poor.

603
00:19:26.632 --> 00:19:29.334
And if you live in subsidized housing

604
00:19:29.334 --> 00:19:30.602
that means

605
00:19:30.602 --> 00:19:32.704
30% of your income goes to rent.

606
00:19:34.406 --> 00:19:36.308
So off the top you have $500

607
00:19:36.308 --> 00:19:36.942
for the month.

608
00:19:36.942 --> 00:19:40.112
That breaks down to $125 a week.

609
00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:42.080
If you go grocery

610
00:19:42.080 --> 00:19:43.515
shopping and you like--how

611
00:19:43.515 --> 00:19:45.384
many of you like to eat?

612
00:19:46.251 --> 00:19:47.452
I like to eat, too, like,

613
00:19:47.452 --> 00:19:49.721
food is like a necessity, right?

614
00:19:50.489 --> 00:19:52.224
So if you just have

615
00:19:52.224 --> 00:19:53.625
basic necessities like,

616
00:19:53.625 --> 00:19:55.294
and you can't have a vice.

617
00:19:55.294 --> 00:19:57.429
So this is how you can't really

618
00:19:57.429 --> 00:19:57.963
have a vice, like,

619
00:19:57.963 --> 00:20:00.098
I don't know, breathing,

620
00:20:00.332 --> 00:20:01.533
you know, laundry.

621
00:20:01.533 --> 00:20:03.202
Like you can't have those kind of vices

622
00:20:03.202 --> 00:20:04.970
if you're poor.

623
00:20:05.037 --> 00:20:07.139
And so students with disabilities

624
00:20:07.139 --> 00:20:10.142
have to really be prepared to fight,

625
00:20:10.909 --> 00:20:13.245
every step of the way.

626
00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:16.215
In my home room 30 years ago,

627
00:20:17.082 --> 00:20:18.684
there were 32 of us.

628
00:20:18.684 --> 00:20:19.351
Two of us

629
00:20:19.351 --> 00:20:24.723
graduated in four years, out of 32.

630
00:20:24.723 --> 00:20:25.023
Two.

631
00:20:25.023 --> 00:20:28.594
Two of us went on immediately

632
00:20:29.361 --> 00:20:31.029
to higher education.

633
00:20:31.029 --> 00:20:33.865
Our other friends went on and some

634
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:37.002
did the transition, and some aged out.

635
00:20:37.002 --> 00:20:39.871
Because at 22 your services stop.

636
00:20:41.106 --> 00:20:42.841
But if you think about it, I

637
00:20:42.841 --> 00:20:44.109
asked this question yesterday,

638
00:20:44.109 --> 00:20:45.277
how many of you would have liked

639
00:20:45.277 --> 00:20:48.714
to been 21 years old in high school?

640
00:20:48.714 --> 00:20:51.149
I mean you can be drunk every day

641
00:20:51.149 --> 00:20:53.252
because you're 21,

642
00:20:53.318 --> 00:20:55.187
but why would you want to?

643
00:20:55.187 --> 00:20:56.822
So why is it appealing for a child

644
00:20:56.822 --> 00:20:57.723
with a disability

645
00:20:57.723 --> 00:20:59.658
to stay in the high school

646
00:20:59.658 --> 00:21:01.560
for eight years?

647
00:21:01.593 --> 00:21:02.861
People don't stay in college

648
00:21:02.861 --> 00:21:04.229
for eight years

649
00:21:04.229 --> 00:21:04.763
and you can

650
00:21:04.763 --> 00:21:06.665
really get messed up in college.

651
00:21:06.665 --> 00:21:08.400
But these are

652
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.335
the things that children will face.

653
00:21:10.335 --> 00:21:11.169
And if you're not,

654
00:21:11.169 --> 00:21:13.205
if you is students of Western

655
00:21:13.205 --> 00:21:14.172
Washington University

656
00:21:14.172 --> 00:21:16.041
go out and don't change the world,

657
00:21:16.041 --> 00:21:18.577
this will be a continuing plea.

658
00:21:18.577 --> 00:21:21.947
And it gets more severe for students

659
00:21:21.947 --> 00:21:24.149
who have different ethnicities

660
00:21:24.149 --> 00:21:25.917
in their backgrounds.

661
00:21:25.951 --> 00:21:28.487
Particularly if you are

662
00:21:28.620 --> 00:21:29.788
an African-American male

663
00:21:29.788 --> 00:21:31.189
and you have an emotional outburst

664
00:21:31.189 --> 00:21:33.025
in the school, you are tracked off.

665
00:21:34.493 --> 00:21:36.895
If you are a Native American, Alaskan,

666
00:21:37.462 --> 00:21:38.930
if you have an emotional outburst,

667
00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:41.366
you're tracked off.

668
00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:42.301
If you have any kind

669
00:21:42.301 --> 00:21:43.235
of emotional outburst,

670
00:21:43.235 --> 00:21:44.703
they'll track you off,

671
00:21:44.703 --> 00:21:47.072
and it is almost virtually impossible

672
00:21:47.372 --> 00:21:48.340
to get back on

673
00:21:48.340 --> 00:21:49.541
to the standard track

674
00:21:49.541 --> 00:21:52.644
of going out in four years.

675
00:21:53.011 --> 00:21:54.413
That's why it's critically important

676
00:21:54.413 --> 00:21:56.315
that you as students

677
00:21:56.315 --> 00:21:57.883
and faculty and parents

678
00:21:57.883 --> 00:22:00.552
don't look and make a splash judgment at

679
00:22:00.552 --> 00:22:03.422
somebody whose disability may be visible.

680
00:22:03.689 --> 00:22:04.623
More importantly,

681
00:22:04.623 --> 00:22:05.457
to those

682
00:22:05.457 --> 00:22:07.459
whose disability may be invisible,

683
00:22:09.328 --> 00:22:11.530
because most of the time, once

684
00:22:11.530 --> 00:22:13.198
you find out that somebody

685
00:22:13.198 --> 00:22:14.132
has a disability,

686
00:22:14.132 --> 00:22:17.102
people change the way they

687
00:22:17.102 --> 00:22:18.970
interact with you.

688
00:22:19.104 --> 00:22:21.106
So back in the day now, everybody, now

689
00:22:21.106 --> 00:22:23.342
you got Instagram, SnapChat.

690
00:22:23.608 --> 00:22:25.410
Back in the day, we had what they called

691
00:22:25.410 --> 00:22:26.778
chat lines.

692
00:22:26.778 --> 00:22:28.213
So you pick up the phone.

693
00:22:28.213 --> 00:22:30.816
Okay, ours was corny,

694
00:22:31.083 --> 00:22:33.952
it was "155-0-fresh"--so

695
00:22:33.952 --> 00:22:34.720
you would dial that 155-0-fresh,

696
00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:39.024
and you had a nickname--mine was Hershey.

697
00:22:39.024 --> 00:22:41.960
Don't--just leave me alone, I was,

698
00:22:42.527 --> 00:22:44.963
I was young, I was reckless

699
00:22:46.631 --> 00:22:47.032
and I'd

700
00:22:47.032 --> 00:22:47.432
get on the

701
00:22:47.432 --> 00:22:50.068
phone and [deep smooth voice] "Hello."

702
00:22:50.068 --> 00:22:51.903
Oh, he sounds sexy.

703
00:22:51.903 --> 00:22:53.238
[deep smooth voice] "Yeah."

704
00:22:53.972 --> 00:22:55.207
Can you put me in the hall with Hershey?

705
00:22:55.207 --> 00:22:57.843
[deep smooth voice] "What's up?" But then

706
00:22:57.843 --> 00:23:00.245
when they meet you: "Ew!

707
00:23:00.245 --> 00:23:02.981
Why you got--ew!"

708
00:23:02.981 --> 00:23:05.784
Because they perceived my disability

709
00:23:05.784 --> 00:23:07.619
as being a negative.

710
00:23:07.619 --> 00:23:09.087
So

711
00:23:09.488 --> 00:23:11.456
what do you do when you come to college?

712
00:23:11.456 --> 00:23:13.392
You're not just here to learn

713
00:23:13.392 --> 00:23:14.326
this statistic.

714
00:23:14.326 --> 00:23:15.494
This is where you meet

715
00:23:15.494 --> 00:23:17.963
some of your lifelong friends,

716
00:23:17.963 --> 00:23:20.232
your long term relationships,

717
00:23:20.232 --> 00:23:22.334
your connections for jobs.

718
00:23:22.334 --> 00:23:23.568
But if you are a student

719
00:23:23.568 --> 00:23:24.403
with a disability,

720
00:23:24.403 --> 00:23:27.239
you never really get that access.

721
00:23:27.239 --> 00:23:28.673
If you think about Western Washington

722
00:23:28.673 --> 00:23:29.007
University,

723
00:23:29.007 --> 00:23:30.609
I asked this question yesterday,

724
00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:31.510
what is the total

725
00:23:31.510 --> 00:23:33.645
disability population on this campus?

726
00:23:35.747 --> 00:23:36.281
Hmm.

727
00:23:38.016 --> 00:23:40.385
When you all have social events,

728
00:23:40.385 --> 00:23:43.188
how accessible and inclusive are they?

729
00:23:44.890 --> 00:23:45.323
When you

730
00:23:45.323 --> 00:23:48.527
have your parties, how out of your way

731
00:23:48.527 --> 00:23:50.462
do you go to invite somebody

732
00:23:50.462 --> 00:23:52.798
that you never invited before?

733
00:23:52.798 --> 00:23:53.532
who may walk

734
00:23:53.532 --> 00:23:54.433
differently,

735
00:23:54.433 --> 00:23:57.669
process information differently?

736
00:23:57.736 --> 00:23:59.271
Those are the things that people don't

737
00:23:59.271 --> 00:24:01.540
think about until it hits close to home.

738
00:24:03.208 --> 00:24:06.111
So as a student, as I grew up--

739
00:24:06.111 --> 00:24:08.280
I told the story

740
00:24:09.681 --> 00:24:10.816
yesterday -- that when I got to college,

741
00:24:10.816 --> 00:24:12.217
it was crazy.

742
00:24:12.217 --> 00:24:15.554
My homeroom teacher, I'll set this up

743
00:24:15.821 --> 00:24:17.255
because they really didn't like me,

744
00:24:17.255 --> 00:24:20.292
they thought I was an anarchist.

745
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:22.828
How dare you think I'm an anarchist?

746
00:24:22.828 --> 00:24:25.230
It's true, but I'm not,

747
00:24:25.897 --> 00:24:28.667
so there was one class that I had

748
00:24:28.667 --> 00:24:30.902
and I had injured my knee and I refused

749
00:24:31.203 --> 00:24:33.371
and my other and I couldn't participate.

750
00:24:33.405 --> 00:24:34.306
So I told the teacher,

751
00:24:34.306 --> 00:24:35.140
I said, I can't do it

752
00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:37.776
because I got bad knees which is true.

753
00:24:37.776 --> 00:24:39.478
Although I was lazy.

754
00:24:39.478 --> 00:24:41.112
But I had bad knees

755
00:24:41.112 --> 00:24:43.181
and the teacher says,okay.

756
00:24:43.181 --> 00:24:44.950
And all my friends were like, yeah,

757
00:24:44.950 --> 00:24:46.017
I got bad knees, too!

758
00:24:47.152 --> 00:24:49.020
Yo, shut the hell up.

759
00:24:49.020 --> 00:24:50.789
You ain't got no bad knees!

760
00:24:50.789 --> 00:24:52.457
And so I sat down

761
00:24:52.457 --> 00:24:53.692
and I went back to the home room,

762
00:24:53.692 --> 00:24:55.260
and the teachers locked,

763
00:24:55.260 --> 00:24:56.661
and they took everybody to lunch

764
00:24:56.661 --> 00:24:57.195
because, you know,

765
00:24:57.195 --> 00:24:58.196
if you were in Special

766
00:24:58.196 --> 00:25:00.098
Ed, you had to move as a group,

767
00:25:00.098 --> 00:25:01.233
like a pack,

768
00:25:01.233 --> 00:25:02.667
and they took the pack to lunch

769
00:25:02.667 --> 00:25:03.301
and they locked me in a room,

770
00:25:03.969 --> 00:25:06.171
listen, we don't like you giving

771
00:25:06.171 --> 00:25:07.672
these kids ideas

772
00:25:07.672 --> 00:25:10.442
that they can have their own voices.

773
00:25:10.442 --> 00:25:11.042
What

774
00:25:11.877 --> 00:25:13.912
the hell is wrong with you?

775
00:25:13.912 --> 00:25:16.081
They thought that I had started a revolt

776
00:25:16.081 --> 00:25:17.315
in class.

777
00:25:17.315 --> 00:25:19.084
So they say that I had started

778
00:25:19.084 --> 00:25:19.818
the revolution,

779
00:25:19.818 --> 00:25:21.586
that these kids were unruly

780
00:25:21.586 --> 00:25:21.953
and that

781
00:25:21.953 --> 00:25:23.388
I was giving them false hope

782
00:25:23.388 --> 00:25:25.991
that they could go to regular class

783
00:25:25.991 --> 00:25:27.993
That's what the teachers said.

784
00:25:27.993 --> 00:25:30.395
Then they said, well, we can't wait 'til

785
00:25:30.428 --> 00:25:32.464
you get out! Neither can I,

786
00:25:33.732 --> 00:25:35.066
because I don't want to be around you.

787
00:25:35.066 --> 00:25:36.601
And so the next,

788
00:25:36.601 --> 00:25:39.271
like maybe three months later,

789
00:25:39.271 --> 00:25:41.206
I come back, took the SATs, got

790
00:25:41.206 --> 00:25:42.674
the scores, came back.

791
00:25:42.674 --> 00:25:45.043
My teacher said, Keith

792
00:25:45.911 --> 00:25:47.679
we really think you should come back

793
00:25:47.679 --> 00:25:49.814
for another year of high school.

794
00:25:49.814 --> 00:25:50.949
Mm-mm.

795
00:25:51.016 --> 00:25:52.918
You know, I'm a senior.

796
00:25:52.918 --> 00:25:53.785
If I come back,

797
00:25:53.785 --> 00:25:56.321
I'm not going to be a good student. No.

798
00:25:56.321 --> 00:25:56.821
And they say

799
00:25:56.821 --> 00:25:58.089
that was because of my spelling.

800
00:25:58.089 --> 00:25:59.024
And I asked her,

801
00:25:59.024 --> 00:26:01.493
did you ever hear of spell check?

802
00:26:01.493 --> 00:26:01.860
Like,

803
00:26:01.860 --> 00:26:03.128
of course, autocorrect will

804
00:26:03.128 --> 00:26:03.895
have you sending

805
00:26:03.895 --> 00:26:06.197
very dirty text messages

806
00:26:06.197 --> 00:26:07.666
to the wrong people.

807
00:26:07.666 --> 00:26:10.502
It happened to me last week.

808
00:26:10.669 --> 00:26:12.771
I was like, I'm so sorry.

809
00:26:12.771 --> 00:26:14.272
And then, like, now I have a stalker.

810
00:26:14.272 --> 00:26:16.741
But that's a whole nother story.

811
00:26:17.542 --> 00:26:20.045
But she was like, you need to come back.

812
00:26:20.045 --> 00:26:21.346
And and as she's talking,

813
00:26:21.346 --> 00:26:23.915
I asked her if she can pull out a letter

814
00:26:23.915 --> 00:26:25.083
that was in my bag.

815
00:26:25.083 --> 00:26:27.586
And she was really serious.

816
00:26:27.886 --> 00:26:28.787
Oh, you need to stay,

817
00:26:28.787 --> 00:26:30.221
you need to come back--and then she reads

818
00:26:30.221 --> 00:26:30.655
the letter

819
00:26:31.990 --> 00:26:32.824
and notices

820
00:26:32.824 --> 00:26:35.393
that it's my acceptance letter to college

821
00:26:35.860 --> 00:26:38.930
that I had gotten on site that Saturday.

822
00:26:39.230 --> 00:26:41.600
So I was, Hell no, I wasn't coming back.

823
00:26:42.300 --> 00:26:43.468
And if I wanted to come back,

824
00:26:43.468 --> 00:26:44.736
why would I come back to a school

825
00:26:44.736 --> 00:26:45.370
where teachers

826
00:26:45.370 --> 00:26:47.372
are presuming incompetence?

827
00:26:49.074 --> 00:26:49.741
Why would you?

828
00:26:49.741 --> 00:26:51.376
So it's

829
00:26:51.376 --> 00:26:52.477
not just about getting

830
00:26:52.477 --> 00:26:55.447
to western Washington. University,

831
00:26:55.447 --> 00:26:55.947
it's about

832
00:26:55.947 --> 00:26:56.748
what are you going to do

833
00:26:56.748 --> 00:26:58.984
to change society after this?

834
00:26:59.951 --> 00:27:00.318
What do you

835
00:27:00.318 --> 00:27:01.086
what are you going to do

836
00:27:01.086 --> 00:27:01.820
in your circle,

837
00:27:01.820 --> 00:27:04.055
in your sphere of influence,

838
00:27:04.055 --> 00:27:05.724
so that people like myself

839
00:27:05.724 --> 00:27:06.791
or your family members

840
00:27:06.791 --> 00:27:08.226
don't have to worry about,

841
00:27:08.226 --> 00:27:11.429
because they have the diagnosis,

842
00:27:11.429 --> 00:27:14.566
They can't do all the inappropriate

843
00:27:14.566 --> 00:27:16.601
things that people do in college

844
00:27:16.601 --> 00:27:19.070
because that's what life is.

845
00:27:19.070 --> 00:27:19.871
I had a parent

846
00:27:19.871 --> 00:27:21.106
come up to me and say,

847
00:27:21.106 --> 00:27:23.742
my child will never go to college.

848
00:27:23.742 --> 00:27:25.443
And I said, Well, why?

849
00:27:25.443 --> 00:27:26.544
Because he's a cripple.

850
00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.715
If that's what your mother thinks,

851
00:27:30.715 --> 00:27:31.316
what you think

852
00:27:31.316 --> 00:27:33.818
the world is going to think of you?

853
00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:35.620
If that's what your family thinks,

854
00:27:35.620 --> 00:27:37.088
that you can't do this...?

855
00:27:37.088 --> 00:27:37.989
Tell you anothter story:

856
00:27:39.391 --> 00:27:41.259
The reason this is important

857
00:27:41.259 --> 00:27:42.193
is because

858
00:27:42.193 --> 00:27:44.429
how do you learn to negotiate society?

859
00:27:45.163 --> 00:27:47.799
By being a part of it.

860
00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:49.401
And so in school, you learn

861
00:27:49.401 --> 00:27:52.370
that's what high school is like.

862
00:27:52.370 --> 00:27:53.405
High school is really like

863
00:27:53.405 --> 00:27:55.373
The Hunger Games.

864
00:27:57.409 --> 00:28:00.311
Yeah, I'm from District 11,

865
00:28:00.311 --> 00:28:04.416
how y'all doin'?

866
00:28:04.416 --> 00:28:06.017
[laughter] Because you like,

867
00:28:06.017 --> 00:28:06.818
you get in, you're a freshman,

868
00:28:06.818 --> 00:28:08.953
you have to survive freshman year.

869
00:28:08.953 --> 00:28:09.921
You have to, like,

870
00:28:09.921 --> 00:28:11.556
fight your way through sophomore year.

871
00:28:11.556 --> 00:28:13.158
You get to junior year, you're like,

872
00:28:13.158 --> 00:28:14.659
I've almost made it!

873
00:28:14.659 --> 00:28:15.360
Right.

874
00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:16.428
And then you get to the end

875
00:28:16.428 --> 00:28:18.063
and then they try to kill you. But

876
00:28:21.633 --> 00:28:22.701
in the end,

877
00:28:23.301 --> 00:28:24.436
you go to college.

878
00:28:24.936 --> 00:28:27.405
But in high school and in college,

879
00:28:27.405 --> 00:28:28.106
these are the years

880
00:28:28.106 --> 00:28:29.140
when you get to be free

881
00:28:29.140 --> 00:28:30.041
and you learn yourself,

882
00:28:30.041 --> 00:28:30.942
you learn your identity,

883
00:28:30.942 --> 00:28:33.411
you explore all of these avenues.

884
00:28:33.411 --> 00:28:35.046
But for students with disabilities,

885
00:28:35.046 --> 00:28:35.680
one of the things

886
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.749
we don't never get to talk about

887
00:28:37.749 --> 00:28:40.018
is our identity.

888
00:28:40.085 --> 00:28:42.187
Whether it be sexual, emotional,

889
00:28:42.787 --> 00:28:43.722
because, you know,

890
00:28:43.722 --> 00:28:45.523
our dreams are always cast

891
00:28:45.523 --> 00:28:46.658
in, well,

892
00:28:46.658 --> 00:28:50.195
this is what we think you can do.

893
00:28:50.762 --> 00:28:51.663
This is what we think

894
00:28:51.663 --> 00:28:54.099
you're able to do versus

895
00:28:54.866 --> 00:28:57.936
what do you want to do?

896
00:28:58.002 --> 00:29:01.639
What you willing to try to become?

897
00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:04.375
So as a student in high school,

898
00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:06.311
one of the things that I swore

899
00:29:06.311 --> 00:29:08.413
that I would never do is go to prom.

900
00:29:08.413 --> 00:29:09.914
I was trying to keep the family

901
00:29:09.914 --> 00:29:10.849
tradition alive.

902
00:29:10.849 --> 00:29:12.917
And I was sitting in biology

903
00:29:12.917 --> 00:29:14.385
class, chillin'.

904
00:29:14.385 --> 00:29:16.354
Because I was going to a house party.

905
00:29:16.354 --> 00:29:18.022
I was not going to do a prom

906
00:29:18.022 --> 00:29:18.790
because the house party

907
00:29:18.790 --> 00:29:20.391
was going to be on and poppin.

908
00:29:20.391 --> 00:29:22.861
So I had different plans.

909
00:29:23.495 --> 00:29:24.896
So I'm sitting in the classroom

910
00:29:24.896 --> 00:29:26.064
and the teacher's aides

911
00:29:26.064 --> 00:29:27.999
who think I'm an anarchist

912
00:29:27.999 --> 00:29:29.901
come knock on the door.

913
00:29:29.901 --> 00:29:31.603
Can we talk to Keith?

914
00:29:31.603 --> 00:29:32.771
Hell, no.

915
00:29:32.771 --> 00:29:34.839
What do you want with my life?

916
00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:36.040
And they take me on the hallway.

917
00:29:37.342 --> 00:29:38.042
Well,

918
00:29:38.042 --> 00:29:40.111
we have a young lady in your class

919
00:29:40.378 --> 00:29:41.980
who wants to go to the prom.

920
00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:42.947
Okay?

921
00:29:43.782 --> 00:29:44.849
She doesn't have a date.

922
00:29:44.849 --> 00:29:46.651
Hm, that's too bad.

923
00:29:46.651 --> 00:29:49.420
She really wants to go.

924
00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:50.455
Okay.

925
00:29:50.822 --> 00:29:52.323
We call, uh we called your Mama.

926
00:29:52.323 --> 00:29:55.860
Why did you call my mama?

927
00:29:56.694 --> 00:29:57.529
Well, your mother said

928
00:29:57.529 --> 00:29:58.129
that you would love

929
00:29:58.129 --> 00:29:59.297
to take her on a d---No,

930
00:29:59.297 --> 00:30:01.266
no, no, no, no, no.

931
00:30:01.266 --> 00:30:03.668
I'm going to a house party.

932
00:30:03.935 --> 00:30:04.969
I'm going to be chillin.

933
00:30:04.969 --> 00:30:07.705
She can take her own self to the prom.

934
00:30:08.606 --> 00:30:09.941
I'm a progressive male.

935
00:30:09.941 --> 00:30:13.178
I think women can do anything.

936
00:30:16.047 --> 00:30:17.315
[laughs] And of course,

937
00:30:17.315 --> 00:30:18.583
for any of you who have ever gone

938
00:30:18.583 --> 00:30:20.118
to a prom or formal

939
00:30:20.118 --> 00:30:21.319
and have gotten your stuff

940
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:22.220
at the last minute,

941
00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:23.688
you know that you get the

942
00:30:23.688 --> 00:30:25.123
ugliest stuff on the rack,

943
00:30:26.991 --> 00:30:28.893
and it never fits.

944
00:30:28.893 --> 00:30:31.396
So they blackmail me into taking this

945
00:30:31.396 --> 00:30:33.231
young lady to the prom.

946
00:30:33.231 --> 00:30:36.134
Mm. Mm.

947
00:30:36.134 --> 00:30:38.770
So I ended up with a hot pink

948
00:30:38.770 --> 00:30:42.740
cummerbund, and high water pants,

949
00:30:44.108 --> 00:30:46.811
and shiny, ugly patent leather shoes.

950
00:30:47.946 --> 00:30:49.347
Yeah.

951
00:30:49.347 --> 00:30:50.582
It's really hard

952
00:30:50.582 --> 00:30:52.851
being sexy in a hot pink cummerbund.

953
00:30:52.851 --> 00:30:53.952
I mean, I did it, but,

954
00:30:53.952 --> 00:30:55.553
you know, it was really hard,

955
00:30:56.421 --> 00:30:57.956
and so and,

956
00:30:57.956 --> 00:30:58.256
you know,

957
00:30:58.256 --> 00:30:59.924
you can't get limos, so

958
00:30:59.924 --> 00:31:02.227
my mother rented a Buick.

959
00:31:02.227 --> 00:31:06.231
Hot pink cummerbund, and it'll be like,

960
00:31:06.231 --> 00:31:07.632
this is just bad, all the way--

961
00:31:07.632 --> 00:31:08.199
I told you

962
00:31:08.199 --> 00:31:10.401
I didn't want to take her to the prom.

963
00:31:10.401 --> 00:31:12.170
I was going to have fun!

964
00:31:12.170 --> 00:31:15.406
So we go pick her up.

965
00:31:15.406 --> 00:31:17.842
And when I say we

966
00:31:17.842 --> 00:31:20.144
now, can you imagine your parents

967
00:31:20.144 --> 00:31:21.212
taking you to the prom?

968
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:25.350
And then walking into the prom with you?

969
00:31:25.350 --> 00:31:26.985
That happened to me.

970
00:31:26.985 --> 00:31:27.385
I've been

971
00:31:27.385 --> 00:31:30.855
emotionally scarred for 40 years.

972
00:31:30.855 --> 00:31:32.290
And so we take her, and we go

973
00:31:32.290 --> 00:31:33.658
and everybody takes pictures--"Oh,

974
00:31:33.658 --> 00:31:34.659
she's so sweet"--it

975
00:31:34.659 --> 00:31:38.930
was the worst night of my life.

976
00:31:38.930 --> 00:31:40.565
And I have a prom picture

977
00:31:40.565 --> 00:31:42.066
-- have you ever taken a picture

978
00:31:42.066 --> 00:31:43.001
when somebody catches you

979
00:31:43.001 --> 00:31:44.636
in the middle of your sentence

980
00:31:44.636 --> 00:31:45.970
and your mouth is wide open

981
00:31:45.970 --> 00:31:46.938
and you look like you're having,

982
00:31:46.938 --> 00:31:49.107
like, a seizure or something? Like,

983
00:31:49.540 --> 00:31:51.676
that's my prom picture.

984
00:31:52.911 --> 00:31:55.580
But the whole point of it was

985
00:31:55.580 --> 00:31:56.180
the whole night

986
00:31:56.180 --> 00:31:56.781
was that

987
00:31:56.781 --> 00:31:58.950
when we got to when we got to the prom,

988
00:32:00.018 --> 00:32:01.252
what made it really bad

989
00:32:01.252 --> 00:32:03.655
was how I had to come into the prom.

990
00:32:03.655 --> 00:32:05.857
This was 1980.

991
00:32:05.857 --> 00:32:07.659
So the ADA did not exist.

992
00:32:08.726 --> 00:32:09.294
So the

993
00:32:09.294 --> 00:32:11.162
accessible entrance was

994
00:32:11.162 --> 00:32:13.498
we came in through the loading dock.

995
00:32:13.498 --> 00:32:16.367
We had to walk through the kitchen,

996
00:32:17.268 --> 00:32:19.304
past the dumpsters,

997
00:32:19.304 --> 00:32:21.706
through a service elevator, past

998
00:32:21.706 --> 00:32:23.541
trash, up

999
00:32:23.541 --> 00:32:26.044
and out through the service entrance.

1000
00:32:26.044 --> 00:32:29.547
All because I used a wheelchair.

1001
00:32:31.049 --> 00:32:32.450
That's why it's important

1002
00:32:32.450 --> 00:32:33.785
that we have inclusion.

1003
00:32:33.785 --> 00:32:34.585
So that --

1004
00:32:34.585 --> 00:32:35.620
I wouldn't have felt bad

1005
00:32:35.620 --> 00:32:38.423
if everybody had to walk past the trash

1006
00:32:38.423 --> 00:32:41.092
then we all would have been equal.

1007
00:32:41.092 --> 00:32:42.694
But everybody else got to walk in

1008
00:32:42.694 --> 00:32:43.461
through these

1009
00:32:43.461 --> 00:32:45.363
beautiful glass doors

1010
00:32:45.363 --> 00:32:47.198
with these marble floors

1011
00:32:47.198 --> 00:32:48.266
and taking pictures

1012
00:32:48.266 --> 00:32:50.668
and standing on the front of the hotel.

1013
00:32:50.969 --> 00:32:52.704
Meanwhile, I'm coming in

1014
00:32:52.704 --> 00:32:54.973
through the side entrance

1015
00:32:54.973 --> 00:32:56.641
like an unwanted pet.

1016
00:32:56.641 --> 00:32:58.543
That is the,

1017
00:32:58.543 --> 00:33:00.445
that is the memory

1018
00:33:00.445 --> 00:33:02.413
that I hold from my prom.

1019
00:33:02.413 --> 00:33:04.716
Never mind the fact that I had a date

1020
00:33:04.716 --> 00:33:05.550
I didn't walk

1021
00:33:05.550 --> 00:33:06.918
and I had a hot pink cummerbund,

1022
00:33:06.918 --> 00:33:08.753
but I'll be all right.

1023
00:33:10.021 --> 00:33:12.623
But why is that important?

1024
00:33:12.623 --> 00:33:14.425
Because these are the events in your life

1025
00:33:14.425 --> 00:33:15.660
that are critical

1026
00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:17.395
that they make

1027
00:33:17.528 --> 00:33:19.297
memories that lasts forever.

1028
00:33:19.297 --> 00:33:21.265
And the fact that they didn't even think

1029
00:33:21.265 --> 00:33:22.800
about the people with disabilities

1030
00:33:22.800 --> 00:33:24.569
coming to the prom,

1031
00:33:24.569 --> 00:33:27.472
they didn't plan accordingly.

1032
00:33:27.472 --> 00:33:29.374
So when you have your events

1033
00:33:29.374 --> 00:33:31.542
and you say, we're going to have a party,

1034
00:33:31.542 --> 00:33:32.410
we're going to have the rock

1035
00:33:32.410 --> 00:33:33.711
climbing wall.

1036
00:33:33.711 --> 00:33:34.012
Yeah.

1037
00:33:34.012 --> 00:33:34.612
Keith Jones won't be climbing

1038
00:33:34.612 --> 00:33:37.181
the rock climbing wall.

1039
00:33:37.181 --> 00:33:40.218
Not unless you got insurance.

1040
00:33:40.218 --> 00:33:43.554
But how are you planning?

1041
00:33:45.223 --> 00:33:47.225
How you engaging?

1042
00:33:47.225 --> 00:33:47.492
Like,

1043
00:33:47.492 --> 00:33:48.459
do you see people

1044
00:33:48.459 --> 00:33:51.262
and if you see a person with a disability

1045
00:33:51.429 --> 00:33:52.030
are you,

1046
00:33:52.063 --> 00:33:52.530
you know,

1047
00:33:52.530 --> 00:33:53.564
do you run up to them

1048
00:33:53.564 --> 00:33:55.700
-- here's a question.

1049
00:33:55.700 --> 00:33:56.667
Have you ever thought

1050
00:33:56.667 --> 00:33:58.736
about dating somebody with a disability?

1051
00:34:03.674 --> 00:34:04.809
Silence.

1052
00:34:07.078 --> 00:34:08.012
If you find out

1053
00:34:08.012 --> 00:34:09.514
the person that you were interested in

1054
00:34:09.514 --> 00:34:11.015
had a disability,

1055
00:34:11.015 --> 00:34:14.052
would you continue to pursue?

1056
00:34:17.588 --> 00:34:20.158
If you are at a bar and find a hot

1057
00:34:20.158 --> 00:34:22.126
-- you see somebody hot

1058
00:34:22.126 --> 00:34:22.794
and then they roll

1059
00:34:22.794 --> 00:34:23.761
the world in a wheelchair,

1060
00:34:23.761 --> 00:34:27.298
does it change how you think about them?

1061
00:34:27.298 --> 00:34:29.200
And if the answer is,

1062
00:34:29.200 --> 00:34:30.968
if you don't know the answers,

1063
00:34:30.968 --> 00:34:34.572
then the answer is already yes,

1064
00:34:34.572 --> 00:34:37.575
because that is what it is.

1065
00:34:37.575 --> 00:34:37.875
Like,

1066
00:34:37.875 --> 00:34:39.277
academics is one thing; it's

1067
00:34:39.277 --> 00:34:41.079
the application of those

1068
00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:43.514
academics that makes you value.

1069
00:34:45.083 --> 00:34:46.484
And for people with disabilities,

1070
00:34:46.484 --> 00:34:47.585
we don't really get a chance

1071
00:34:47.585 --> 00:34:49.120
to go out and hang out

1072
00:34:49.120 --> 00:34:50.288
and do that kind of stuff

1073
00:34:50.288 --> 00:34:53.024
because of society's perception

1074
00:34:53.024 --> 00:34:55.626
of what we can and cannot do.

1075
00:34:55.626 --> 00:34:57.728
Now, my friends and I were

1076
00:34:57.728 --> 00:35:00.031
slightly different. A little bit.

1077
00:35:00.131 --> 00:35:03.067
So a couple of years ago we decided

1078
00:35:03.067 --> 00:35:06.904
to go -- warning, graphic

1079
00:35:07.505 --> 00:35:09.740
discussion taking place,

1080
00:35:09.740 --> 00:35:11.776
not too graphic because it's too early --

1081
00:35:11.776 --> 00:35:13.511
but a friend of mine

1082
00:35:13.511 --> 00:35:13.811
and I,

1083
00:35:13.811 --> 00:35:14.712
it was like three of us,

1084
00:35:14.712 --> 00:35:15.279
you know,

1085
00:35:15.279 --> 00:35:16.948
and we use wheelchairs

1086
00:35:16.948 --> 00:35:18.416
and we were like, Hey,

1087
00:35:18.416 --> 00:35:20.785
let's go to strip club, okay?

1088
00:35:20.818 --> 00:35:22.019
Going to the strip club.

1089
00:35:22.019 --> 00:35:23.554
Rolled up to the strip club,

1090
00:35:23.554 --> 00:35:24.956
and the bouncer looked like

1091
00:35:24.956 --> 00:35:25.957
he had a heart attack.

1092
00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:29.293
Oh, my G---y'all, uh,

1093
00:35:29.293 --> 00:35:31.562
y'all tryin to come in?

1094
00:35:31.562 --> 00:35:33.164
No, we're just going to sit at the door

1095
00:35:33.164 --> 00:35:35.500
and look at everybody else go in.

1096
00:35:35.500 --> 00:35:37.201
The hell you

1097
00:35:38.169 --> 00:35:38.469
think?

1098
00:35:38.469 --> 00:35:39.604
I don't know if, y'all forgive me,

1099
00:35:39.604 --> 00:35:41.139
I don't know if y'all can get in.

1100
00:35:41.139 --> 00:35:42.039
They didn't let us in

1101
00:35:42.039 --> 00:35:45.443
because they said we were a fire hazard.

1102
00:35:45.610 --> 00:35:46.844
I was like,

1103
00:35:46.844 --> 00:35:47.712
Yeah, no, I'm hot,

1104
00:35:47.712 --> 00:35:50.314
but that's a whole nother...right?

1105
00:35:50.314 --> 00:35:52.950
But a fire hazard.

1106
00:35:54.485 --> 00:35:55.953
And, you know, have you ever had

1107
00:35:55.953 --> 00:35:56.687
somebody turn you away,

1108
00:35:56.687 --> 00:35:58.289
but you look in, and it was like,

1109
00:35:58.289 --> 00:35:59.590
no, we don't have any seats.

1110
00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:00.892
But you look over their shoulder

1111
00:36:00.892 --> 00:36:02.894
and they're like, a thousand empty seats?

1112
00:36:03.594 --> 00:36:06.130
This is what it was like.

1113
00:36:06.130 --> 00:36:06.831
It's because people

1114
00:36:06.831 --> 00:36:07.765
had made an assumption

1115
00:36:07.765 --> 00:36:09.767
that if we came in, we were a liability,

1116
00:36:11.169 --> 00:36:12.136
that if we came in,

1117
00:36:12.136 --> 00:36:12.537
they just

1118
00:36:12.537 --> 00:36:14.405
did what most people do,

1119
00:36:14.405 --> 00:36:16.841
that we could be a problem.

1120
00:36:16.841 --> 00:36:19.277
The the goal of what you're trying to do

1121
00:36:19.277 --> 00:36:20.311
is to change society

1122
00:36:20.311 --> 00:36:22.547
so that people can move independently

1123
00:36:22.547 --> 00:36:24.382
and do what they want to do.

1124
00:36:24.382 --> 00:36:26.017
Inclusion is just--it's

1125
00:36:26.017 --> 00:36:28.419
beyond the classroom.

1126
00:36:28.419 --> 00:36:30.021
If you've never seen a person

1127
00:36:30.021 --> 00:36:31.589
who is different than you,

1128
00:36:31.589 --> 00:36:32.590
you will never be able

1129
00:36:32.590 --> 00:36:35.626
to appreciate their differences.

1130
00:36:36.093 --> 00:36:37.361
If you never dealt with a person

1131
00:36:37.361 --> 00:36:39.630
with a disability as a person,

1132
00:36:39.630 --> 00:36:40.598
then you will always

1133
00:36:40.598 --> 00:36:42.633
see the disability prior to the person.

1134
00:36:44.468 --> 00:36:46.637
I had a crush on the girl in high school.

1135
00:36:46.637 --> 00:36:47.972
Oh, I thought I was the man.

1136
00:36:47.972 --> 00:36:49.807
I was like [deep smooth voice] Yo.

1137
00:36:49.807 --> 00:36:51.509
You know, when you try to date somebody,

1138
00:36:51.509 --> 00:36:52.743
your voice gets deeper.

1139
00:36:52.743 --> 00:36:55.179
You start to talk like this.

1140
00:36:55.179 --> 00:36:56.981
[deep smooth voice] Hello.

1141
00:36:58.482 --> 00:37:00.218
How you doing?

1142
00:37:00.284 --> 00:37:01.352
Oh, so you gonna be my girlfriend?

1143
00:37:01.352 --> 00:37:01.819
[high-pitched voice]

1144
00:37:01.819 --> 00:37:02.687
"I'll be your girlfriend."

1145
00:37:02.687 --> 00:37:04.422
I was like, Yeah,

1146
00:37:04.789 --> 00:37:05.823
Ima meet you at school tomorrow.

1147
00:37:05.823 --> 00:37:07.725
Well, okay.

1148
00:37:07.892 --> 00:37:09.060
So the next day in school,

1149
00:37:09.060 --> 00:37:10.161
I go up and say,

1150
00:37:10.161 --> 00:37:12.663
Hey, you know, what's up?

1151
00:37:12.663 --> 00:37:14.332
And she was standing with her friends

1152
00:37:14.332 --> 00:37:16.167
and her friends was like "Ew!"

1153
00:37:16.167 --> 00:37:18.436
and just started instantly

1154
00:37:18.436 --> 00:37:19.804
talking about "He's drooling.

1155
00:37:19.804 --> 00:37:21.072
Why he walk like that?

1156
00:37:21.072 --> 00:37:21.839
Ew!

1157
00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:23.874
He's cripple an' you trying to date him?

1158
00:37:23.874 --> 00:37:24.375
Girl--"

1159
00:37:25.042 --> 00:37:26.010
And she was like, "I

1160
00:37:26.010 --> 00:37:26.777
ain't dating him,"

1161
00:37:26.777 --> 00:37:27.411
and pretended

1162
00:37:27.411 --> 00:37:29.113
that the conversation we had

1163
00:37:29.113 --> 00:37:30.581
never happened.

1164
00:37:30.581 --> 00:37:33.517
Peer pressure.

1165
00:37:33.517 --> 00:37:37.021
People have -- people see me with my kids

1166
00:37:37.355 --> 00:37:39.090
and ask me whose kids are they?

1167
00:37:39.090 --> 00:37:41.325
I wish they were somebody else's kids,

1168
00:37:41.325 --> 00:37:42.627
so I'd have my own money,

1169
00:37:44.462 --> 00:37:45.896
but they mine.

1170
00:37:46.998 --> 00:37:48.432
And then they'll go, They're yours?

1171
00:37:48.432 --> 00:37:49.000
Yes, they're yours.

1172
00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:51.802
And that means you had to....

1173
00:37:51.802 --> 00:37:54.038
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

1174
00:37:54.538 --> 00:37:56.440
Certain times, right?

1175
00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:57.341
So....

1176
00:37:57.341 --> 00:38:00.578
But even the most basic of things,

1177
00:38:01.379 --> 00:38:03.714
people don't appreciate the difficulty

1178
00:38:03.781 --> 00:38:04.448
it is.

1179
00:38:04.448 --> 00:38:07.251
Just to have people talk to you,

1180
00:38:09.220 --> 00:38:10.721
just to have people acknowledge

1181
00:38:10.721 --> 00:38:12.857
that you have an opinion.

1182
00:38:12.857 --> 00:38:15.092
If I go to a restaurant with a friend,

1183
00:38:15.459 --> 00:38:17.295
they'll say, What do you want to eat?

1184
00:38:17.295 --> 00:38:18.562
Then they'll turn to the friend to say,

1185
00:38:18.562 --> 00:38:20.965
What does he want to eat?

1186
00:38:22.667 --> 00:38:23.601
Typically, my friends are looking

1187
00:38:23.601 --> 00:38:23.801
very "Better

1188
00:38:23.801 --> 00:38:25.803
ask him, he's the one with the money,"

1189
00:38:27.371 --> 00:38:28.039
and now I'm like [in

1190
00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:28.372
mocking strained speech]

1191
00:38:28.372 --> 00:38:30.608
"I don't know what do I want to eat,"

1192
00:38:30.641 --> 00:38:32.243
which makes them feel really bad.

1193
00:38:32.243 --> 00:38:33.377
And then I'll do it again

1194
00:38:34.345 --> 00:38:36.414
because my job is not to enlighten you.

1195
00:38:36.614 --> 00:38:38.916
My job is to make an order so I can eat.

1196
00:38:40.217 --> 00:38:42.086
I had to tell a friend yesterday

1197
00:38:42.086 --> 00:38:43.721
it's not incumbent upon people

1198
00:38:43.721 --> 00:38:44.889
with disabilities

1199
00:38:44.889 --> 00:38:45.523
to make people

1200
00:38:45.523 --> 00:38:48.192
without disabilities comfortable.

1201
00:38:48.192 --> 00:38:49.894
It is analogous to a woman.

1202
00:38:49.894 --> 00:38:51.829
It is not incumbent upon you

1203
00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:55.399
to make a man feel safe in your space.

1204
00:38:56.434 --> 00:38:58.502
Your job is to be who you are.

1205
00:39:00.037 --> 00:39:01.305
As a person with a disability.

1206
00:39:01.305 --> 00:39:03.441
Our job is to be who we are.

1207
00:39:03.441 --> 00:39:05.676
The disability is a part of who we are.

1208
00:39:06.010 --> 00:39:09.180
It is not who we are.

1209
00:39:09.180 --> 00:39:11.716
Cerebral palsy is part of Keith Jones,

1210
00:39:12.216 --> 00:39:13.184
part of my identity.

1211
00:39:13.184 --> 00:39:16.087
It does not define my identity.

1212
00:39:17.154 --> 00:39:19.023
My sexiness defines my identity.

1213
00:39:19.023 --> 00:39:21.025
I know.

1214
00:39:21.025 --> 00:39:23.227
But I'd say these things to you because

1215
00:39:23.227 --> 00:39:25.863
right now we're in a situation where they

1216
00:39:25.896 --> 00:39:27.598
they had a vote in the House of

1217
00:39:27.598 --> 00:39:29.200
Representatives two days ago

1218
00:39:30.134 --> 00:39:32.803
that they are taking $2.8 trillion

1219
00:39:33.437 --> 00:39:36.273
away from Social Security.

1220
00:39:36.907 --> 00:39:38.342
They had a vote think

1221
00:39:38.342 --> 00:39:39.610
what, three months ago

1222
00:39:39.610 --> 00:39:42.613
where they gutted the ADA.

1223
00:39:42.847 --> 00:39:45.282
So like and Betsy DeVos,

1224
00:39:45.282 --> 00:39:47.184
our illustrious department,

1225
00:39:47.184 --> 00:39:48.652
we're okay on the veto.

1226
00:39:48.652 --> 00:39:51.789
Mm hmm.

1227
00:39:51.789 --> 00:39:52.590
Well,

1228
00:39:52.590 --> 00:39:54.992
they rescinded all of the protections

1229
00:39:55.526 --> 00:39:57.828
for students with disabilities.

1230
00:39:57.828 --> 00:40:01.465
They also have decided

1231
00:40:01.465 --> 00:40:04.101
to skip over civil rights complaints

1232
00:40:04.602 --> 00:40:05.169
that are lodged

1233
00:40:05.169 --> 00:40:07.905
with the Department of Education.

1234
00:40:07.972 --> 00:40:09.874
So if you are a student with a disability

1235
00:40:09.874 --> 00:40:11.876
and you're an LBGTQ student,

1236
00:40:11.876 --> 00:40:13.544
student of color,

1237
00:40:13.544 --> 00:40:14.678
English is your second language

1238
00:40:14.678 --> 00:40:16.814
-- -- you have no protection.

1239
00:40:16.814 --> 00:40:19.517
There is none.

1240
00:40:20.284 --> 00:40:21.752
So it is incumbent upon

1241
00:40:21.752 --> 00:40:23.654
you as a as a community

1242
00:40:23.654 --> 00:40:26.824
to give those protections, because

1243
00:40:27.324 --> 00:40:29.493
at least next time it might be you.

1244
00:40:31.429 --> 00:40:33.230
This is how people with disabilities

1245
00:40:33.230 --> 00:40:35.533
have been fighting for years.

1246
00:40:35.966 --> 00:40:37.768
They are protesting on the state capitol

1247
00:40:37.768 --> 00:40:41.071
and the nation's capital as we speak

1248
00:40:42.406 --> 00:40:44.809
because Ben Carson decided to say

1249
00:40:45.042 --> 00:40:45.609
that people

1250
00:40:45.609 --> 00:40:46.944
who are low income

1251
00:40:46.944 --> 00:40:48.546
and need housing assistance,

1252
00:40:48.546 --> 00:40:51.715
their rent should triple.

1253
00:40:51.715 --> 00:40:54.084
So remember I told you this, $790

1254
00:40:54.084 --> 00:40:54.685
a month.

1255
00:40:54.685 --> 00:40:57.988
30% of it goes to your--right--now

1256
00:40:57.988 --> 00:41:01.592
half of your $790 is going to your rent.

1257
00:41:01.759 --> 00:41:05.229
That means for 29 days of a month

1258
00:41:05.229 --> 00:41:08.933
you are living on $10 a day.

1259
00:41:08.933 --> 00:41:10.935
How many of you can live on $10 a day.

1260
00:41:12.736 --> 00:41:15.072
A good coffee costs you like $7.

1261
00:41:16.040 --> 00:41:16.507
This is you

1262
00:41:16.507 --> 00:41:18.976
get like a bunch of extra shots.

1263
00:41:18.976 --> 00:41:22.012
My Frappuccino is 13, but--okay six.

1264
00:41:22.012 --> 00:41:24.248
All right, I'm sorry.

1265
00:41:24.248 --> 00:41:27.985
I got kids so I need much caffeine

1266
00:41:28.486 --> 00:41:28.786
as I can get.

1267
00:41:28.786 --> 00:41:29.086
Chasin'

1268
00:41:29.086 --> 00:41:29.687
they ass

1269
00:41:29.687 --> 00:41:30.588
all around the house--"come here!"

1270
00:41:30.588 --> 00:41:34.058
But those are the kind of things

1271
00:41:34.058 --> 00:41:37.328
that when you talk people don't believe.

1272
00:41:37.328 --> 00:41:39.964
If you're not prepared to do what

1273
00:41:39.964 --> 00:41:41.465
is right after school--so

1274
00:41:41.465 --> 00:41:42.299
it doesn't matter

1275
00:41:42.299 --> 00:41:43.901
whether you're a teaching student

1276
00:41:43.901 --> 00:41:45.035
whether you're a business student

1277
00:41:45.035 --> 00:41:47.171
or whether you are a psychologist,

1278
00:41:47.171 --> 00:41:48.839
if you're not prepared to engage

1279
00:41:48.839 --> 00:41:51.342
a human at a human level,

1280
00:41:51.342 --> 00:41:52.710
you will let the

1281
00:41:52.710 --> 00:41:55.179
small things distract you from possibly

1282
00:41:55.546 --> 00:41:57.781
your future wife, your future husband,

1283
00:41:57.781 --> 00:41:59.283
your future business partner...

1284
00:42:01.285 --> 00:42:04.121
...the next dean, your next president,

1285
00:42:04.121 --> 00:42:07.424
solely because a diagnosis interfered.

1286
00:42:07.424 --> 00:42:09.426
I've had parents come up to me

1287
00:42:09.426 --> 00:42:11.295
and tell me that they will never think

1288
00:42:11.295 --> 00:42:12.863
their children will do anything.

1289
00:42:12.863 --> 00:42:15.199
And I have to remind them

1290
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:17.668
it is okay to mourn the loss of the child

1291
00:42:17.968 --> 00:42:19.470
you thought you were going to have.

1292
00:42:19.470 --> 00:42:21.805
For nine months you had this idea

1293
00:42:22.473 --> 00:42:23.207
you're going to give birth

1294
00:42:23.207 --> 00:42:25.609
to this perfect baby boy or baby girl.

1295
00:42:26.911 --> 00:42:29.480
And then you give birth

1296
00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:31.849
and then there's a diagnosis

1297
00:42:31.849 --> 00:42:34.685
and now you go down the rabbit hole.

1298
00:42:34.685 --> 00:42:36.820
Now you start to see how friends act

1299
00:42:37.154 --> 00:42:39.890
when you have that different child.

1300
00:42:39.890 --> 00:42:42.192
The divorce rate among parents

1301
00:42:42.192 --> 00:42:44.128
who have children with disabilities

1302
00:42:44.128 --> 00:42:46.363
is twice the national average.

1303
00:42:47.831 --> 00:42:49.466
So once the parent has a child with

1304
00:42:49.466 --> 00:42:50.100
a disability

1305
00:42:51.068 --> 00:42:53.470
it puts an extra strain on the family.

1306
00:42:53.470 --> 00:42:55.406
If there are siblings in the family,

1307
00:42:55.406 --> 00:42:57.041
there have been studies

1308
00:42:57.041 --> 00:42:58.242
where siblings feel

1309
00:42:58.242 --> 00:42:59.343
that they have been neglected

1310
00:42:59.343 --> 00:43:01.345
because this child had come along

1311
00:43:01.345 --> 00:43:04.181
and requires much more attention.

1312
00:43:04.448 --> 00:43:07.084
Why is that a problem?

1313
00:43:07.785 --> 00:43:09.920
These are the realities that face people

1314
00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:11.522
with disabilities in families.

1315
00:43:11.522 --> 00:43:12.323
So if

1316
00:43:12.323 --> 00:43:13.123
I'm going to come to Western

1317
00:43:13.123 --> 00:43:14.058
Washington University,

1318
00:43:14.058 --> 00:43:15.092
if I've gotten to the point

1319
00:43:15.092 --> 00:43:16.126
where I can come here,

1320
00:43:16.126 --> 00:43:17.227
that means that

1321
00:43:17.227 --> 00:43:18.329
my mother and my father

1322
00:43:18.329 --> 00:43:19.830
have had battle scars

1323
00:43:19.830 --> 00:43:21.999
for 30 years, 20 years, 18 years.

1324
00:43:22.900 --> 00:43:25.135
Because the basic perception of a child

1325
00:43:25.135 --> 00:43:26.370
with a disability

1326
00:43:26.370 --> 00:43:28.706
is that Oh, that's cute.

1327
00:43:28.706 --> 00:43:30.207
We'll give him some services

1328
00:43:30.207 --> 00:43:32.409
and we'll get him an affordable housing.

1329
00:43:34.178 --> 00:43:36.914
The data is stark.

1330
00:43:36.914 --> 00:43:38.082
People with disabilities

1331
00:43:38.082 --> 00:43:40.751
outside of the senior community

1332
00:43:40.751 --> 00:43:42.586
are the most isolated communities.

1333
00:43:43.887 --> 00:43:44.755
We're in Western.

1334
00:43:44.755 --> 00:43:45.756
We're in Bellingham.

1335
00:43:45.756 --> 00:43:46.991
How here's a question:

1336
00:43:46.991 --> 00:43:48.025
How wheelchair accessible

1337
00:43:48.025 --> 00:43:50.794
do you think Bellingham is?

1338
00:43:51.095 --> 00:43:54.565
Everybody was like, Oh, hell no.

1339
00:43:54.865 --> 00:43:57.001
So if you can't get around,

1340
00:43:57.001 --> 00:43:58.102
how do you party?

1341
00:43:58.102 --> 00:44:01.939
I mean, you can take over but, like,

1342
00:44:01.939 --> 00:44:03.707
if you can't get around,

1343
00:44:03.707 --> 00:44:05.743
how do you socialize?

1344
00:44:06.310 --> 00:44:07.911
How do you connect?

1345
00:44:08.412 --> 00:44:09.713
If you can't get around?

1346
00:44:09.713 --> 00:44:10.280
How do you do

1347
00:44:10.280 --> 00:44:13.717
basic stuff like go to the store?

1348
00:44:14.318 --> 00:44:15.552
If you ever look at a wheelchair,

1349
00:44:15.552 --> 00:44:16.086
if you ever look at a person

1350
00:44:16.086 --> 00:44:16.120
in an electric wheelchair, read

1351
00:44:18.355 --> 00:44:20.290
the little sign on the bottom.

1352
00:44:20.290 --> 00:44:20.724
It is

1353
00:44:20.724 --> 00:44:23.127
do not operate in inclement weather.

1354
00:44:23.127 --> 00:44:24.161
Which means

1355
00:44:24.161 --> 00:44:28.132
that--and you're in Washington--so,

1356
00:44:28.265 --> 00:44:29.233
either your wheelchair

1357
00:44:29.233 --> 00:44:31.869
short circuits...it happened to me.

1358
00:44:33.103 --> 00:44:33.704
But these are

1359
00:44:33.704 --> 00:44:36.173
the kind of things that we talk about

1360
00:44:36.173 --> 00:44:37.474
and why it's critically important--it's

1361
00:44:37.474 --> 00:44:39.710
beyond getting the grades,

1362
00:44:40.678 --> 00:44:41.211
it's beyond

1363
00:44:41.211 --> 00:44:41.879
joining the club,

1364
00:44:41.879 --> 00:44:43.614
it's what are you going to do

1365
00:44:43.614 --> 00:44:44.281
to make sure

1366
00:44:44.281 --> 00:44:45.816
that the fabric of your community

1367
00:44:45.816 --> 00:44:47.918
is welcoming and truly inclusive?

1368
00:44:49.653 --> 00:44:50.688
How many of you go out

1369
00:44:50.688 --> 00:44:52.556
and use the automatic door

1370
00:44:52.556 --> 00:44:55.592
-- if you go to the grocery store --

1371
00:44:55.592 --> 00:44:57.361
and if you can't use the automatic door,

1372
00:44:57.361 --> 00:44:58.262
you mad as hell

1373
00:44:58.262 --> 00:44:59.229
that you got to use your muscle

1374
00:44:59.229 --> 00:45:01.198
to pull it open.

1375
00:45:01.198 --> 00:45:03.600
All right.

1376
00:45:03.600 --> 00:45:04.902
Then none of that would have happened

1377
00:45:04.902 --> 00:45:06.570
without the ADA.

1378
00:45:07.404 --> 00:45:08.639
And there's an active --

1379
00:45:08.639 --> 00:45:10.941
we are in an active political climate

1380
00:45:11.208 --> 00:45:13.711
where my physical existence

1381
00:45:14.044 --> 00:45:16.847
is being seen as not valuable.

1382
00:45:17.981 --> 00:45:20.084
There's an active eugenics movement

1383
00:45:20.350 --> 00:45:21.885
where they are eliminating

1384
00:45:21.885 --> 00:45:24.388
entire disability populations.

1385
00:45:25.856 --> 00:45:27.191
There are active movements

1386
00:45:27.191 --> 00:45:28.659
where people are saying

1387
00:45:28.659 --> 00:45:30.227
you can't come here.

1388
00:45:30.227 --> 00:45:32.996
In, I believe its the Netherlands,

1389
00:45:33.330 --> 00:45:36.100
they have said that every person,

1390
00:45:36.133 --> 00:45:37.901
every woman who gets pregnant

1391
00:45:37.901 --> 00:45:40.370
must be tested for Down syndrome.

1392
00:45:40.370 --> 00:45:42.206
And if their child is

1393
00:45:42.206 --> 00:45:44.141
discovered to have Down's syndrome,

1394
00:45:44.141 --> 00:45:45.609
they will abort that fetus.

1395
00:45:46.910 --> 00:45:50.080
They are eliminating Down's syndrome.

1396
00:45:50.080 --> 00:45:51.982
Now this--so if they

1397
00:45:51.982 --> 00:45:53.317
if they can go from Down's syndrome,

1398
00:45:53.317 --> 00:45:54.818
what's the next

1399
00:45:55.419 --> 00:45:57.888
disability they don't like?

1400
00:45:57.888 --> 00:45:59.890
What's the next issue?

1401
00:45:59.890 --> 00:46:02.292
Cerebral palsy could be next.

1402
00:46:02.292 --> 00:46:04.361
I ain't going.

1403
00:46:04.361 --> 00:46:06.430
Y'all can try.

1404
00:46:06.430 --> 00:46:07.698
I ain't going.

1405
00:46:08.198 --> 00:46:10.901
But these are the realities.

1406
00:46:11.468 --> 00:46:12.970
So just to put it in the context

1407
00:46:12.970 --> 00:46:13.871
about why it's important

1408
00:46:13.871 --> 00:46:15.639
to be a community of inclusion

1409
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:16.573
and things like that,

1410
00:46:16.573 --> 00:46:17.141
and the reason

1411
00:46:17.141 --> 00:46:19.409
that if you find friends with disability,

1412
00:46:19.777 --> 00:46:20.944
you give us strength,

1413
00:46:20.944 --> 00:46:22.346
we give you strength.

1414
00:46:22.346 --> 00:46:23.914
So we were out.

1415
00:46:23.914 --> 00:46:25.949
I tried to catch a cab.

1416
00:46:25.949 --> 00:46:26.650
Okay,

1417
00:46:26.984 --> 00:46:27.251
never mind I'm

1418
00:46:27.251 --> 00:46:27.551
a black man

1419
00:46:27.551 --> 00:46:28.452
trying to catch a cab, I'm

1420
00:46:28.452 --> 00:46:29.920
a black man with a disability

1421
00:46:29.920 --> 00:46:30.888
trying to catch a cab.

1422
00:46:30.888 --> 00:46:32.656
So I went up to the guy

1423
00:46:32.656 --> 00:46:33.891
said, Can I get in the cab?

1424
00:46:33.891 --> 00:46:34.825
He said, Oh, my God.

1425
00:46:34.825 --> 00:46:36.126
What kind of drugs are you on?

1426
00:46:37.227 --> 00:46:37.494
It's like,

1427
00:46:37.494 --> 00:46:40.597
apparently not the best kind, so, hmm.

1428
00:46:41.331 --> 00:46:43.567
He's like, no, no, we don't take your

1429
00:46:43.567 --> 00:46:45.369
kind. My kind? The hell?

1430
00:46:45.369 --> 00:46:47.905
I had to go over to--so I went--this

1431
00:46:47.905 --> 00:46:50.974
was at South station in Boston.

1432
00:46:51.208 --> 00:46:52.976
I went to the I went to the security.

1433
00:46:52.976 --> 00:46:53.610
I said,

1434
00:46:53.610 --> 00:46:55.179
excuse me, can I get a hand in a cab?

1435
00:46:55.179 --> 00:46:56.814
Because in that let me in the cab,

1436
00:46:56.814 --> 00:46:57.681
he looked at me like,

1437
00:46:57.681 --> 00:46:59.116
what kind of drugs are you on?

1438
00:46:59.116 --> 00:47:00.584
I was mad

1439
00:47:00.584 --> 00:47:03.086
because I didn't have any drugs,

1440
00:47:03.086 --> 00:47:04.588
at least not to kind I wanted.

1441
00:47:04.588 --> 00:47:05.856
I was like,

1442
00:47:05.856 --> 00:47:07.124
can I get the drug

1443
00:47:07.124 --> 00:47:09.159
that everybody seems to think I'm on?

1444
00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:11.261
But all of that

1445
00:47:11.395 --> 00:47:13.831
was because they saw me walking

1446
00:47:14.798 --> 00:47:16.767
and because of my cerebral palsy,

1447
00:47:16.767 --> 00:47:19.403
I walk with a different kind of gait

1448
00:47:19.403 --> 00:47:21.772
and the assumption visually was

1449
00:47:22.039 --> 00:47:23.740
he has to be on something

1450
00:47:25.008 --> 00:47:26.076
versus that's

1451
00:47:26.076 --> 00:47:28.278
just how he moves.

1452
00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:31.782
It took me 40 minutes to get into a cab.

1453
00:47:32.950 --> 00:47:34.218
Seven different cabs

1454
00:47:34.218 --> 00:47:36.920
refused to let me in the car.

1455
00:47:37.354 --> 00:47:38.956
Last June

1456
00:47:38.956 --> 00:47:42.025
when we were on our way to rehearsal,

1457
00:47:42.025 --> 00:47:44.795
I called an Uber, and I sat,

1458
00:47:44.795 --> 00:47:47.464
the lady pulled up, I rolled out

1459
00:47:48.799 --> 00:47:50.701
and you know, they give you the alert,

1460
00:47:50.701 --> 00:47:52.569
"Please meet your driver outside."

1461
00:47:52.569 --> 00:47:53.904
So I'm like, Hey, how you doing?

1462
00:47:53.904 --> 00:47:54.805
I'm here.

1463
00:47:54.805 --> 00:47:56.306
She looked at me

1464
00:47:58.108 --> 00:48:00.911
and got on her phone and then called me

1465
00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:04.348
through the window on her phone.

1466
00:48:05.282 --> 00:48:07.117
And I answer the phone, say hello.

1467
00:48:07.117 --> 00:48:08.719
She's like, I'm here.

1468
00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:11.889
I said, I know, I'm looking at you.

1469
00:48:12.322 --> 00:48:13.390
She said, Where are you?

1470
00:48:13.390 --> 00:48:15.158
I'm right here.

1471
00:48:15.158 --> 00:48:16.727
She refused to get out of the car

1472
00:48:16.727 --> 00:48:17.895
because she did not want to deal

1473
00:48:17.895 --> 00:48:19.830
with the person with a wheelchair,

1474
00:48:19.830 --> 00:48:23.567
canceled the ride and drove off.

1475
00:48:23.567 --> 00:48:26.770
And everybody, so, you know,

1476
00:48:27.204 --> 00:48:28.372
I called a cab

1477
00:48:28.372 --> 00:48:30.040
and got down to where I was going--and

1478
00:48:30.040 --> 00:48:31.475
people are like, that's bullshit.

1479
00:48:31.475 --> 00:48:32.676
You need to cuss Uber.

1480
00:48:32.676 --> 00:48:35.178
I said, this is on a daily basis.

1481
00:48:37.681 --> 00:48:38.982
So the reality of being a

1482
00:48:38.982 --> 00:48:40.117
person with a disability

1483
00:48:40.117 --> 00:48:41.652
is not that--it's

1484
00:48:41.652 --> 00:48:44.221
more than just inclusion in class.

1485
00:48:44.221 --> 00:48:45.422
If we're not in society

1486
00:48:45.422 --> 00:48:47.591
seen as a viable functioning part,

1487
00:48:47.991 --> 00:48:50.560
then we can be discriminated against

1488
00:48:50.560 --> 00:48:53.096
and kicked out, not picked up,

1489
00:48:54.064 --> 00:48:56.266
not given rides,

1490
00:48:56.466 --> 00:48:57.567
not allowed to date.

1491
00:48:57.567 --> 00:48:59.336
They have literally told

1492
00:48:59.336 --> 00:49:01.405
a couple in Ohio,

1493
00:49:01.405 --> 00:49:02.973
one person had cerebral palsy,

1494
00:49:02.973 --> 00:49:04.708
the other one had MS.

1495
00:49:04.708 --> 00:49:06.009
They had a child

1496
00:49:06.009 --> 00:49:07.678
they said that they were not capable

1497
00:49:07.678 --> 00:49:09.880
enough to be parents

1498
00:49:09.880 --> 00:49:12.449
and they took the child

1499
00:49:12.449 --> 00:49:13.450
for no other reason

1500
00:49:13.450 --> 00:49:14.084
other than the fact

1501
00:49:14.084 --> 00:49:16.386
that the parents had disability.

1502
00:49:17.988 --> 00:49:19.790
It's stark,

1503
00:49:19.890 --> 00:49:22.025
but it's not impossible to change.

1504
00:49:22.893 --> 00:49:23.927
Everybody in this room

1505
00:49:23.927 --> 00:49:25.996
can be the key to changing it.

1506
00:49:25.996 --> 00:49:27.364
You just have to be willing

1507
00:49:27.364 --> 00:49:29.199
to look at the human,

1508
00:49:29.199 --> 00:49:31.535
the humanity in everybody.

1509
00:49:31.535 --> 00:49:32.502
Do you know the World

1510
00:49:32.502 --> 00:49:33.937
Health Organization

1511
00:49:33.937 --> 00:49:36.273
definition of disability?

1512
00:49:36.273 --> 00:49:36.640
Anybody?

1513
00:49:36.640 --> 00:49:38.709
Going once, going twice.

1514
00:49:38.709 --> 00:49:40.243
Okay.

1515
00:49:40.243 --> 00:49:40.944
The World Health

1516
00:49:40.944 --> 00:49:44.381
Organization in 2009--no,

1517
00:49:44.381 --> 00:49:47.551
2011--changed the definition

1518
00:49:47.551 --> 00:49:50.721
of disability from residing in the person

1519
00:49:51.221 --> 00:49:53.290
to residing in the environment.

1520
00:49:54.725 --> 00:49:56.393
So that if you are a person

1521
00:49:56.393 --> 00:49:58.095
with a mobility impairment,

1522
00:49:58.095 --> 00:50:01.498
but everything is level and flat,

1523
00:50:01.698 --> 00:50:02.466
you are not,

1524
00:50:02.466 --> 00:50:03.800
you are not disabled

1525
00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:05.969
because you can get into those places.

1526
00:50:07.237 --> 00:50:08.205
I'm disabled

1527
00:50:08.205 --> 00:50:10.374
if there are steps into every place,

1528
00:50:10.807 --> 00:50:12.776
if I use a wheelchair.

1529
00:50:12.776 --> 00:50:15.012
So the environment

1530
00:50:15.012 --> 00:50:16.346
is what makes you disabled,

1531
00:50:16.346 --> 00:50:17.748
not your diagnosis.

1532
00:50:17.748 --> 00:50:20.717
That's a radical shift.

1533
00:50:20.717 --> 00:50:24.554
If you've ever been at a crosswalk

1534
00:50:24.554 --> 00:50:25.389
and you've seen the light

1535
00:50:25.389 --> 00:50:28.191
come on and you've heard the beeping,

1536
00:50:28.191 --> 00:50:29.059
that's so people

1537
00:50:29.059 --> 00:50:31.862
who are visually impaired can cross.

1538
00:50:31.862 --> 00:50:33.563
That's radical.

1539
00:50:33.563 --> 00:50:34.364
It makes sense

1540
00:50:34.364 --> 00:50:35.298
because sometimes

1541
00:50:35.298 --> 00:50:36.233
if you aren't paying attention

1542
00:50:36.233 --> 00:50:36.767
and you hear the beeping--

1543
00:50:36.767 --> 00:50:41.738
--people who are not blind can use that.

1544
00:50:41.738 --> 00:50:44.808
These are the things, these small steps.

1545
00:50:45.642 --> 00:50:46.176
But people

1546
00:50:46.176 --> 00:50:47.477
are constantly looking at people

1547
00:50:47.477 --> 00:50:49.713
with disabilities as if we are the other

1548
00:50:51.581 --> 00:50:52.649
if we need to be different.

1549
00:50:52.649 --> 00:50:53.884
Now, me,

1550
00:50:53.884 --> 00:50:56.319
just tell you another story because

1551
00:50:56.319 --> 00:50:58.722
I have a really weird kind of like so

1552
00:50:58.722 --> 00:51:02.626
we were in the airport again

1553
00:51:02.626 --> 00:51:03.894
because I fly a lot

1554
00:51:03.894 --> 00:51:06.129
and my friend and I were going

1555
00:51:06.129 --> 00:51:06.997
because he is traveling

1556
00:51:06.997 --> 00:51:07.898
with me this time.

1557
00:51:07.898 --> 00:51:08.498
So we had to tickets,

1558
00:51:08.498 --> 00:51:10.367
we were at the gate--I'm

1559
00:51:10.367 --> 00:51:11.501
trying not to laugh

1560
00:51:11.501 --> 00:51:14.271
because this was funny, to me.

1561
00:51:14.271 --> 00:51:15.138
He said,

1562
00:51:15.138 --> 00:51:15.839
the lady was like,

1563
00:51:15.839 --> 00:51:16.506
[in slow condescending voice]

1564
00:51:16.506 --> 00:51:19.276
Are you traveling with us today?

1565
00:51:19.276 --> 00:51:21.511
[Keith Jones] I'm

1566
00:51:21.511 --> 00:51:22.846
at a gate in the airport,

1567
00:51:22.846 --> 00:51:24.581
what the hell you think I'm doing?

1568
00:51:24.581 --> 00:51:27.617
[slow condescending voice] Oh,

1569
00:51:27.651 --> 00:51:29.052
I'm so proud

1570
00:51:29.052 --> 00:51:31.354
that you made it to the gate today.

1571
00:51:31.354 --> 00:51:35.025
[Keith Jones] Are you okay?

1572
00:51:35.025 --> 00:51:36.259
I think she was on the drugs

1573
00:51:36.259 --> 00:51:37.861
they thought I was on.

1574
00:51:37.861 --> 00:51:41.364
And my cousin gave her the things

1575
00:51:41.364 --> 00:51:43.100
and he was like, no we're in these seats?

1576
00:51:43.100 --> 00:51:43.900
She was like

1577
00:51:43.900 --> 00:51:45.535
and she looked at him, was like,

1578
00:51:45.535 --> 00:51:48.038
I'm so proud of you.

1579
00:51:48.038 --> 00:51:49.306
That's so wonderful.

1580
00:51:49.306 --> 00:51:51.475
Thank you for the tickets.

1581
00:51:51.475 --> 00:51:52.175
And he was like,

1582
00:51:52.175 --> 00:51:53.844
Do you think I have a disability?

1583
00:51:53.844 --> 00:51:55.178
And she started talking

1584
00:51:55.178 --> 00:51:56.446
really, really slow.

1585
00:51:57.447 --> 00:51:58.482
Are you

1586
00:51:58.482 --> 00:52:01.618
going to need help

1587
00:52:01.618 --> 00:52:02.819
on the plane?

1588
00:52:02.819 --> 00:52:04.988
Yo, I'm not getting on this plane

1589
00:52:05.722 --> 00:52:06.556
because she's crazy,

1590
00:52:06.556 --> 00:52:07.924
and I don't know about the pilot,

1591
00:52:07.924 --> 00:52:09.493
and it was like,

1592
00:52:09.493 --> 00:52:11.361
but they kept talking to it.

1593
00:52:11.361 --> 00:52:12.329
It was a miracle

1594
00:52:12.329 --> 00:52:15.132
that we had gotten to the airport.

1595
00:52:15.132 --> 00:52:15.532
I guess

1596
00:52:15.532 --> 00:52:18.268
they thought we were catching the bus.

1597
00:52:18.268 --> 00:52:20.437
No, but they were slow

1598
00:52:20.470 --> 00:52:21.671
that they literally

1599
00:52:21.671 --> 00:52:22.739
were making the assumptions

1600
00:52:22.739 --> 00:52:24.241
about who we were.

1601
00:52:25.175 --> 00:52:27.010
And as I'm on the plane,

1602
00:52:27.010 --> 00:52:27.878
how many of you played

1603
00:52:27.878 --> 00:52:30.313
Candy Crush or still play Candy Crush?

1604
00:52:30.313 --> 00:52:31.848
Okay, I'm addicted to Candy Crush.

1605
00:52:31.848 --> 00:52:34.351
So I'm on the plane playing Candy Crush.

1606
00:52:34.351 --> 00:52:36.820
And now I have to say this.

1607
00:52:36.820 --> 00:52:39.222
I use my foot to play Candy Crush.

1608
00:52:39.222 --> 00:52:40.957
So my phone is down here

1609
00:52:40.957 --> 00:52:42.192
and the lady's like,

1610
00:52:42.192 --> 00:52:43.093
oh, my God...[starts sobbing]...

1611
00:52:43.093 --> 00:52:46.630
I was like, why are you crying?

1612
00:52:47.464 --> 00:52:48.698
She was like,

1613
00:52:48.832 --> 00:52:50.834
I'm so...you're just so amazing.

1614
00:52:50.834 --> 00:52:51.968
I was just watching you playing

1615
00:52:51.968 --> 00:52:52.569
Candy Crush

1616
00:52:54.204 --> 00:52:54.804
and...[emotional sobbing]

1617
00:52:56.506 --> 00:52:58.341
The hell is wrong with you?

1618
00:52:58.341 --> 00:53:00.410
What's wrong with you?

1619
00:53:01.878 --> 00:53:05.482
I got scared!

1620
00:53:05.482 --> 00:53:09.519
And then the flight attendant came out,

1621
00:53:09.519 --> 00:53:10.320
and she's like,

1622
00:53:10.320 --> 00:53:10.921
oh, my God,

1623
00:53:10.921 --> 00:53:13.190
everybody on the plane is just so amazed.

1624
00:53:13.623 --> 00:53:16.059
You're such an inspiration.

1625
00:53:16.059 --> 00:53:16.359
I was like,

1626
00:53:16.359 --> 00:53:16.993
if I'd known Candy Crush coulda did

1627
00:53:16.993 --> 00:53:18.028
this I'd have gone

1628
00:53:18.028 --> 00:53:21.865
on America's Got Talent.

1629
00:53:22.265 --> 00:53:23.033
What are you going to do?

1630
00:53:23.033 --> 00:53:26.169
I'm going to play Candy Crush!

1631
00:53:28.705 --> 00:53:29.839
But why was that?

1632
00:53:29.839 --> 00:53:32.309
Why was it so impressive to them?

1633
00:53:34.678 --> 00:53:37.914
Whenever I have my phone, I use my feet.

1634
00:53:37.914 --> 00:53:40.650
So my phone is always on the floor

1635
00:53:40.650 --> 00:53:41.518
and I'm always on it.

1636
00:53:41.518 --> 00:53:43.153
And I cannot tell you how many times

1637
00:53:43.153 --> 00:53:44.454
people have run up,

1638
00:53:44.454 --> 00:53:46.790
grab my phone and put it on my lap.

1639
00:53:48.692 --> 00:53:49.092
Oh, my God.

1640
00:53:49.092 --> 00:53:51.461
Did you know your phone was on the floor?

1641
00:53:51.461 --> 00:53:53.697
Oh, yes. I'm using it.

1642
00:53:53.697 --> 00:53:54.931
And I'm sending a text.

1643
00:53:54.931 --> 00:53:55.899
Do you know this ass

1644
00:53:55.899 --> 00:53:57.801
just picked up my phone?

1645
00:53:57.801 --> 00:54:00.003
And they're like, oh,

1646
00:54:00.070 --> 00:54:00.870
I thought I was helping.

1647
00:54:00.870 --> 00:54:01.972
No, you're not helping.

1648
00:54:03.773 --> 00:54:04.341
And then, oh

1649
00:54:04.341 --> 00:54:05.008
my God,

1650
00:54:05.008 --> 00:54:08.078
and every time or if I'm ordering coffee,

1651
00:54:09.246 --> 00:54:10.447
and all of this is not

1652
00:54:10.447 --> 00:54:12.582
because I have cerebral palsy,

1653
00:54:12.582 --> 00:54:13.750
it's because the people

1654
00:54:13.750 --> 00:54:16.720
have not been exposed to people

1655
00:54:16.753 --> 00:54:18.888
throughout their life with disabilities,

1656
00:54:20.056 --> 00:54:21.558
from school

1657
00:54:21.558 --> 00:54:23.760
to social activities to college.

1658
00:54:24.861 --> 00:54:26.663
So any time that they see something,

1659
00:54:26.663 --> 00:54:28.932
they think they're being helpful.

1660
00:54:28.932 --> 00:54:31.668
They think we need help,

1661
00:54:31.668 --> 00:54:33.937
they think we need saving.

1662
00:54:33.937 --> 00:54:36.172
But I've been in places where

1663
00:54:36.706 --> 00:54:37.040
I went

1664
00:54:37.040 --> 00:54:41.144
to the doctor, and the doctor--the nurse

1665
00:54:41.745 --> 00:54:42.479
looked at me

1666
00:54:42.479 --> 00:54:44.514
and looked--I had cerebral palsy

1667
00:54:44.514 --> 00:54:46.516
she was trying to take my blood pressure,

1668
00:54:46.516 --> 00:54:47.717
and she looked at me

1669
00:54:47.717 --> 00:54:48.685
and she looked at the blood

1670
00:54:48.685 --> 00:54:49.853
pressure cuff.

1671
00:54:49.853 --> 00:54:50.253
And she looked again and she said

1672
00:54:51.087 --> 00:54:53.189
you look like your blood pressure's

1673
00:54:53.189 --> 00:54:54.658
120 over 80.

1674
00:54:54.658 --> 00:54:57.160
Like, damn, you psychic like that?

1675
00:54:57.160 --> 00:54:59.396
What's the lottery number?

1676
00:54:59.396 --> 00:55:01.031
Because you can just look at me

1677
00:55:01.031 --> 00:55:02.132
and see my blood pressure.

1678
00:55:03.433 --> 00:55:04.100
Because they

1679
00:55:04.100 --> 00:55:06.136
did not want to talk to me.

1680
00:55:08.038 --> 00:55:10.106
Disability is not a curse.

1681
00:55:10.774 --> 00:55:13.810
It's a part of the human continuum.

1682
00:55:13.810 --> 00:55:16.146
And once we get to understand that

1683
00:55:16.146 --> 00:55:16.980
everybody on

1684
00:55:16.980 --> 00:55:19.349
that human continuum has value,

1685
00:55:20.784 --> 00:55:23.420
every human life has worth.

1686
00:55:23.420 --> 00:55:24.087
There are some people

1687
00:55:24.087 --> 00:55:25.889
that will annoy the hell out of you,

1688
00:55:25.889 --> 00:55:28.325
but they still have value.

1689
00:55:28.325 --> 00:55:29.559
And one of the things that

1690
00:55:29.559 --> 00:55:31.061
I want to encourage you to do

1691
00:55:31.061 --> 00:55:32.395
is when you look at--when

1692
00:55:32.395 --> 00:55:33.596
you leave this room

1693
00:55:33.596 --> 00:55:35.065
and you go on this campus,

1694
00:55:35.065 --> 00:55:38.001
look at your circle of friends.

1695
00:55:38.501 --> 00:55:40.203
If you are a faith person

1696
00:55:40.203 --> 00:55:42.772
and look at your places of worship,

1697
00:55:44.641 --> 00:55:46.276
are they accessible?

1698
00:55:46.276 --> 00:55:48.712
If

1699
00:55:48.912 --> 00:55:49.879
you go to church

1700
00:55:49.879 --> 00:55:51.815
and there's a lot of steps,

1701
00:55:51.815 --> 00:55:53.416
and you wonder why there's no

1702
00:55:53.416 --> 00:55:54.684
wheelchairs in your church,

1703
00:55:56.653 --> 00:55:56.886
you should

1704
00:55:56.886 --> 00:55:59.889
ask, is your synagogue

1705
00:56:00.523 --> 00:56:03.293
or your mosque, is it accessible?

1706
00:56:04.794 --> 00:56:06.663
You should ask,

1707
00:56:07.030 --> 00:56:09.265
if you're throwing a party at a club,

1708
00:56:09.766 --> 00:56:12.135
it ain't accessible, you should ask.

1709
00:56:13.737 --> 00:56:15.338
There's a reason

1710
00:56:15.338 --> 00:56:16.272
because they constantly--if

1711
00:56:16.272 --> 00:56:18.641
you exclude people,

1712
00:56:18.641 --> 00:56:22.612
ignorance is not an excuse anymore.

1713
00:56:23.580 --> 00:56:25.882
I will tell you that as a

1714
00:56:25.915 --> 00:56:26.649
as a person

1715
00:56:26.649 --> 00:56:28.084
who travels a lot,

1716
00:56:28.084 --> 00:56:30.620
I just got back from London

1717
00:56:30.620 --> 00:56:32.555
about a week and a half ago

1718
00:56:32.555 --> 00:56:33.390
and it was like

1719
00:56:33.390 --> 00:56:34.157
my friend was like,

1720
00:56:34.157 --> 00:56:34.858
You're going to London,

1721
00:56:34.858 --> 00:56:37.594
I was like, Yeah, I'm on the plane.

1722
00:56:37.594 --> 00:56:39.429
And this lady gets on the plane.

1723
00:56:39.429 --> 00:56:40.697
And I was like, How are you doing?

1724
00:56:40.697 --> 00:56:41.831
And she's like, I'm fine [sobbing].

1725
00:56:41.831 --> 00:56:42.265
I was like,

1726
00:56:44.033 --> 00:56:44.367
all I said was Hi.

1727
00:56:45.101 --> 00:56:47.170
I didn't know that sent her into it.

1728
00:56:47.170 --> 00:56:47.937
She started crying

1729
00:56:47.937 --> 00:56:50.173
because her dogs were under the plane

1730
00:56:50.173 --> 00:56:50.607
as she was

1731
00:56:50.607 --> 00:56:52.342
concerned about them on the trip

1732
00:56:52.342 --> 00:56:53.443
because, you know, United had

1733
00:56:53.443 --> 00:56:54.444
just had that incident

1734
00:56:54.444 --> 00:56:55.912
where they sent the dogs

1735
00:56:55.912 --> 00:56:57.480
to Sydney, Australia.

1736
00:56:57.480 --> 00:56:58.548
And the family went to San

1737
00:56:58.548 --> 00:56:59.516
Antonio, Texas.

1738
00:56:59.516 --> 00:57:02.419
That's a huge disability, right?

1739
00:57:02.685 --> 00:57:03.887
So she's crying.

1740
00:57:03.887 --> 00:57:04.754
But the whole flight,

1741
00:57:04.754 --> 00:57:05.922
she was really nice.

1742
00:57:05.922 --> 00:57:06.856
So they would come down

1743
00:57:06.856 --> 00:57:07.757
and they would offer drinks

1744
00:57:07.757 --> 00:57:08.658
and she would help.

1745
00:57:08.658 --> 00:57:09.459
And she,

1746
00:57:09.526 --> 00:57:10.727
at the end of the flight

1747
00:57:10.727 --> 00:57:14.497
they gave her $200 for helping me.

1748
00:57:16.299 --> 00:57:16.699
I was like,

1749
00:57:16.699 --> 00:57:19.402
wait a minute, where the hell is my $200?

1750
00:57:19.402 --> 00:57:20.270
She wouldn't have gotten it

1751
00:57:20.270 --> 00:57:21.638
if I wasn't a cripple, right?

1752
00:57:21.638 --> 00:57:23.006
Like I'm mad about it.

1753
00:57:23.006 --> 00:57:25.909
They offered her 10,000 miles or $200

1754
00:57:27.343 --> 00:57:30.280
solely because she sat next to me

1755
00:57:31.614 --> 00:57:33.516
as a person with a disability.

1756
00:57:33.516 --> 00:57:34.651
She didn't do anything.

1757
00:57:34.651 --> 00:57:35.585
I was like,

1758
00:57:35.585 --> 00:57:38.354
What the hell did she do for 200 hours?

1759
00:57:38.354 --> 00:57:40.557
I don't have the smile on my face.

1760
00:57:40.557 --> 00:57:41.925
So what did he do?

1761
00:57:41.925 --> 00:57:45.361
And all she did was put a straw in a cup

1762
00:57:46.629 --> 00:57:49.999
and peel off the wrapper for the food,

1763
00:57:50.433 --> 00:57:51.701
and the flight attendant was like,

1764
00:57:51.701 --> 00:57:54.337
Oh my God, you are so amazing.

1765
00:57:54.337 --> 00:57:55.104
I was like, Thank you.

1766
00:57:55.104 --> 00:57:55.572
She was like, No,

1767
00:57:55.572 --> 00:57:57.974
I'm talking to the other lady.

1768
00:57:58.308 --> 00:57:59.375
And she did that

1769
00:57:59.375 --> 00:58:00.944
because they saw a person

1770
00:58:00.944 --> 00:58:03.513
with a disability. They, they had no idea

1771
00:58:04.614 --> 00:58:05.114
because every

1772
00:58:05.114 --> 00:58:06.049
time I travel

1773
00:58:06.049 --> 00:58:08.184
they say, Are you traveling by yourself?

1774
00:58:08.184 --> 00:58:10.220
Yes. Why?

1775
00:58:10.887 --> 00:58:13.356
Because I don't like people?

1776
00:58:15.225 --> 00:58:16.993
Imagine if everywhere you wanted to go,

1777
00:58:16.993 --> 00:58:19.562
somebody said, Take somebody with you.

1778
00:58:21.331 --> 00:58:22.799
What would you want to do?

1779
00:58:22.799 --> 00:58:24.400
If every time

1780
00:58:24.400 --> 00:58:26.436
you tried to move in your life,

1781
00:58:26.436 --> 00:58:27.303
somebody said,

1782
00:58:27.303 --> 00:58:30.840
you have to have somebody watch you.

1783
00:58:31.107 --> 00:58:32.809
So I say all this

1784
00:58:32.809 --> 00:58:33.743
because it's

1785
00:58:33.743 --> 00:58:36.546
not just about going to class.

1786
00:58:36.546 --> 00:58:38.481
It's not just about attending

1787
00:58:38.481 --> 00:58:39.282
alumni events.

1788
00:58:39.282 --> 00:58:40.216
It really is about

1789
00:58:40.216 --> 00:58:41.184
what are you going to do

1790
00:58:41.184 --> 00:58:43.586
to affect Bellingham,

1791
00:58:43.686 --> 00:58:46.089
the state of Washington, the country?

1792
00:58:46.356 --> 00:58:48.625
You know, you guys are voting, right?

1793
00:58:49.158 --> 00:58:51.761
So you have elections coming up.

1794
00:58:51.895 --> 00:58:53.897
Do you know that 97%

1795
00:58:53.897 --> 00:58:54.964
of the polling places in

1796
00:58:54.964 --> 00:58:57.233
the United States are inaccessible?

1797
00:58:59.736 --> 00:59:00.970
How many of you have gone voting

1798
00:59:00.970 --> 00:59:01.471
and they've

1799
00:59:01.471 --> 00:59:03.740
been in like a high school gym

1800
00:59:03.740 --> 00:59:05.041
or like an old library

1801
00:59:05.041 --> 00:59:06.509
or something like that.

1802
00:59:06.509 --> 00:59:09.479
That is why the disability population

1803
00:59:09.779 --> 00:59:10.613
cannot vote

1804
00:59:12.015 --> 00:59:14.617
or make it easily to vote.

1805
00:59:14.617 --> 00:59:16.853
There are 60 million of us,

1806
00:59:16.853 --> 00:59:18.721
one in five.

1807
00:59:19.055 --> 00:59:20.323
We have the largest voting bloc

1808
00:59:20.323 --> 00:59:22.559
that nobody talks to.

1809
00:59:22.926 --> 00:59:24.827
But if you can't get in to vote,

1810
00:59:24.827 --> 00:59:26.629
how do you vote?

1811
00:59:27.764 --> 00:59:30.099
You know, we just had, we, unfortunately,

1812
00:59:30.099 --> 00:59:31.067
we had another

1813
00:59:31.067 --> 00:59:33.369
shooting at a school in Texas.

1814
00:59:34.270 --> 00:59:36.039
If you are a student with a disability,

1815
00:59:36.039 --> 00:59:38.274
how do you get out?

1816
00:59:39.409 --> 00:59:40.710
Who comes back?

1817
00:59:40.710 --> 00:59:43.479
Who comes back to get you?

1818
00:59:45.715 --> 00:59:47.684
On the plane

1819
00:59:47.684 --> 00:59:49.485
when they do the safety brief,

1820
00:59:49.485 --> 00:59:51.387
this is what they tell disabled

1821
00:59:51.387 --> 00:59:54.123
passengers: In the event of emergency,

1822
00:59:54.424 --> 00:59:55.391
Sit here and wait.

1823
00:59:55.391 --> 00:59:56.793
We will come back for you.

1824
00:59:56.793 --> 00:59:59.896
You done lost your damn mind!

1825
00:59:59.896 --> 01:00:01.731
The planes going to crash,

1826
01:00:01.731 --> 01:00:02.732
Keith will be back.

1827
01:00:02.732 --> 01:00:04.601
No the hell you don't.

1828
01:00:04.601 --> 01:00:06.836
I'm going to beat you off this--But

1829
01:00:06.836 --> 01:00:08.438
I told the lady, listen,

1830
01:00:08.438 --> 01:00:09.072
you won't have to worry

1831
01:00:09.072 --> 01:00:10.440
because I'll beat you off the plane.

1832
01:00:10.440 --> 01:00:12.342
So I'll come back and get you.

1833
01:00:14.444 --> 01:00:15.979
But that's what they tell us.

1834
01:00:15.979 --> 01:00:16.879
In the event of an emergency,

1835
01:00:16.879 --> 01:00:19.115
sit here and wait.

1836
01:00:19.515 --> 01:00:22.685
How many of you have stayed in a hotel?

1837
01:00:22.685 --> 01:00:24.187
You know what the fire procedure is

1838
01:00:24.187 --> 01:00:26.456
if you have a disability?

1839
01:00:26.556 --> 01:00:28.091
They tell you to stay in your room

1840
01:00:28.091 --> 01:00:29.459
and wait for the firefighters

1841
01:00:29.459 --> 01:00:30.960
to come get you.

1842
01:00:32.028 --> 01:00:34.731
So you want me to cook like a marshmallow

1843
01:00:34.731 --> 01:00:36.599
while people are looking?

1844
01:00:36.599 --> 01:00:38.501
This is what they say.

1845
01:00:39.402 --> 01:00:41.771
So, again, it's not just

1846
01:00:41.771 --> 01:00:43.840
go to class, have kids included.

1847
01:00:43.840 --> 01:00:45.108
It's carry

1848
01:00:45.108 --> 01:00:47.744
this and permeate this throughout.

1849
01:00:47.744 --> 01:00:48.544
Throughout.

1850
01:00:48.544 --> 01:00:51.814
Because if it happens,

1851
01:00:52.682 --> 01:00:53.616
not everybody,

1852
01:00:53.616 --> 01:00:56.119
you're not going to run forever.

1853
01:00:56.185 --> 01:00:58.121
Age will catch up with you.

1854
01:00:58.121 --> 01:00:59.589
There's a term called temporarily

1855
01:00:59.589 --> 01:01:00.757
able bodied.

1856
01:01:00.923 --> 01:01:03.826
It's--have you ever sprained an ankle?

1857
01:01:03.826 --> 01:01:06.062
You ever tweak a knee?

1858
01:01:06.062 --> 01:01:07.664
You ever wake up with a bad back?

1859
01:01:09.332 --> 01:01:10.099
Imagine having

1860
01:01:10.099 --> 01:01:12.669
it for the rest of your life.

1861
01:01:12.769 --> 01:01:15.038
That is what we're doing.

1862
01:01:15.038 --> 01:01:16.005
We're trying to encourage

1863
01:01:16.005 --> 01:01:17.774
you all to see people.

1864
01:01:17.774 --> 01:01:19.075
Yes, understand their disability,

1865
01:01:19.075 --> 01:01:20.977
but see their humanity.

1866
01:01:20.977 --> 01:01:24.580
I mean you can see my sexiness,

1867
01:01:24.580 --> 01:01:27.717
but see their humanity.

1868
01:01:27.717 --> 01:01:29.385
And that is why it's important

1869
01:01:29.385 --> 01:01:31.387
for inclusion to happen,

1870
01:01:31.387 --> 01:01:33.389
not just in class,

1871
01:01:33.389 --> 01:01:35.625
but in every level of our society.

1872
01:01:37.694 --> 01:01:39.395
So Im gonna tell you,

1873
01:01:39.395 --> 01:01:41.130
I'll tell you this random story.

1874
01:01:41.130 --> 01:01:42.365
So I'm sitting

1875
01:01:42.365 --> 01:01:43.299
on--a friend of mine

1876
01:01:43.299 --> 01:01:46.035
and I are on, in Harlem in New York,

1877
01:01:46.269 --> 01:01:48.404
and we get on the elevator, we go down,

1878
01:01:48.404 --> 01:01:49.872
we sittin' on the train and we chillin'.

1879
01:01:49.872 --> 01:01:51.674
I got my McDonald's bag,

1880
01:01:51.674 --> 01:01:53.176
and we laughin' and jokin' and jokin'.

1881
01:01:53.176 --> 01:01:54.677
And some guy runs over,

1882
01:01:54.677 --> 01:01:56.879
pats me on the head and throws money

1883
01:01:57.513 --> 01:01:58.781
in my hamburger bag.

1884
01:01:59.949 --> 01:02:00.950
The hell

1885
01:02:02.251 --> 01:02:03.352
is wrong--? Did you just--?

1886
01:02:03.352 --> 01:02:05.088
And he was like, Bruh, I'm

1887
01:02:05.088 --> 01:02:08.091
so sorry for what happened to you.

1888
01:02:08.091 --> 01:02:10.126
What happened to me?

1889
01:02:10.293 --> 01:02:11.294
Like, I didn't know

1890
01:02:11.294 --> 01:02:12.361
I had, like, blacked out

1891
01:02:12.361 --> 01:02:14.063
and like had just woke up in New York.

1892
01:02:14.063 --> 01:02:16.165
I didn't know what happened!

1893
01:02:16.165 --> 01:02:19.168
But he assumed

1894
01:02:19.168 --> 01:02:22.171
black man, wheelchair, shot.

1895
01:02:23.439 --> 01:02:25.708
Here's some money.

1896
01:02:25.708 --> 01:02:26.709
A week and a half later

1897
01:02:26.709 --> 01:02:29.145
sitting on the train platform in Boston,

1898
01:02:29.746 --> 01:02:30.446
at the orange line,

1899
01:02:30.446 --> 01:02:33.382
I'm getting ready to go home.

1900
01:02:33.416 --> 01:02:33.916
[impersonating another person] Dude,

1901
01:02:33.916 --> 01:02:35.718
my brother's in a wheelchair.

1902
01:02:35.718 --> 01:02:36.819
[Keith Jones] Okay.

1903
01:02:36.819 --> 01:02:39.489
[other voice] Here's some money.

1904
01:02:39.489 --> 01:02:40.656
Why are you giving me money?

1905
01:02:40.656 --> 01:02:43.292
I mean, I took the money, but

1906
01:02:43.292 --> 01:02:44.193
why did he give me?

1907
01:02:44.193 --> 01:02:45.161
He kept giving me money.

1908
01:02:45.161 --> 01:02:46.028
They give you money

1909
01:02:46.028 --> 01:02:47.797
because they feel that you can't work.

1910
01:02:49.599 --> 01:02:50.900
This is the perception that

1911
01:02:50.900 --> 01:02:53.002
we had to destroy.

1912
01:02:53.069 --> 01:02:54.370
Then people with disabilities

1913
01:02:54.370 --> 01:02:57.006
are somehow helpless,

1914
01:02:57.039 --> 01:02:59.542
somehow invulnerable.

1915
01:02:59.542 --> 01:03:00.743
The disability community

1916
01:03:00.743 --> 01:03:02.578
has $1.8 trillion

1917
01:03:02.578 --> 01:03:04.714
in the economic buying power.

1918
01:03:04.714 --> 01:03:07.450
We are 30-- --we are one in five.

1919
01:03:07.450 --> 01:03:09.619
There are 23 million families

1920
01:03:09.619 --> 01:03:11.988
with an individual with a disability

1921
01:03:11.988 --> 01:03:13.022
in this country.

1922
01:03:13.022 --> 01:03:16.459
We are a force to be reckoned with.

1923
01:03:16.459 --> 01:03:18.761
And you all, for those who are going out,

1924
01:03:19.962 --> 01:03:22.031
please acknowledge that.

1925
01:03:22.031 --> 01:03:24.834
We are lovers, we are friends,

1926
01:03:24.834 --> 01:03:25.735
we are family.

1927
01:03:25.735 --> 01:03:26.435
We are people

1928
01:03:26.435 --> 01:03:29.172
that you don't want to talk to.

1929
01:03:29.172 --> 01:03:31.407
Because a friend of mine say, Keith,

1930
01:03:31.407 --> 01:03:32.608
if the guy's in the wheelchair

1931
01:03:32.608 --> 01:03:36.379
and I don't like him, is that okay?

1932
01:03:36.746 --> 01:03:37.814
Uh, yeah.

1933
01:03:38.381 --> 01:03:39.749
Because then people get offended.

1934
01:03:39.749 --> 01:03:40.149
Like,

1935
01:03:40.583 --> 01:03:41.584
I don't know,

1936
01:03:41.584 --> 01:03:42.752
I think he's really cool,

1937
01:03:42.752 --> 01:03:44.253
but I don't really like them

1938
01:03:44.253 --> 01:03:46.322
and they feel like there's an obligation

1939
01:03:46.389 --> 01:03:48.658
to be nice to a person

1940
01:03:48.991 --> 01:03:51.861
solely because they have a disability.

1941
01:03:51.861 --> 01:03:53.095
Your obligation is just

1942
01:03:53.095 --> 01:03:54.163
to be a good human.

1943
01:03:56.199 --> 01:03:57.500
Your obligation is to be

1944
01:03:57.500 --> 01:04:00.069
nice if they are worthy of your niceness.

1945
01:04:01.571 --> 01:04:03.005
If they're worthy of your respect,

1946
01:04:03.005 --> 01:04:04.440
then you give it.

1947
01:04:04.640 --> 01:04:05.341
But if they don't,

1948
01:04:05.341 --> 01:04:06.142
if they're not worthy--if

1949
01:04:06.142 --> 01:04:08.477
somebody is rude to you what do you do?

1950
01:04:09.445 --> 01:04:11.013
You look at them like they done

1951
01:04:11.013 --> 01:04:12.181
lost their damn mind, right?

1952
01:04:12.515 --> 01:04:13.583
If they're in a wheelchair, it's

1953
01:04:13.583 --> 01:04:15.451
the same process.

1954
01:04:15.451 --> 01:04:17.620
I say this to you

1955
01:04:17.620 --> 01:04:19.655
because once I leave here,

1956
01:04:19.655 --> 01:04:20.823
I sit on this stage

1957
01:04:20.823 --> 01:04:22.592
and people always keep--once

1958
01:04:22.592 --> 01:04:23.392
I get to the airport,

1959
01:04:23.392 --> 01:04:23.893
I'm black

1960
01:04:23.893 --> 01:04:26.495
and I'm crippled in the wheelchair.

1961
01:04:26.562 --> 01:04:28.664
And nobody will talk to me, to my face.

1962
01:04:30.066 --> 01:04:32.835
They will talk over my head.

1963
01:04:32.835 --> 01:04:35.071
They will talk around me.

1964
01:04:35.071 --> 01:04:36.072
They will talk about me,

1965
01:04:36.072 --> 01:04:38.808
but they will never talk to me.

1966
01:04:38.808 --> 01:04:40.676
This happens daily.

1967
01:04:41.878 --> 01:04:44.280
Last night I went to--I

1968
01:04:44.280 --> 01:04:45.214
went around the corner

1969
01:04:45.214 --> 01:04:47.750
and I asked for directions,

1970
01:04:48.084 --> 01:04:50.119
and they literally looked at each other

1971
01:04:50.119 --> 01:04:53.055
and said, do you know where he's going?

1972
01:04:53.756 --> 01:04:56.659
Like, didn't I ask the question?

1973
01:04:56.659 --> 01:04:58.828
This is--so these things are real.

1974
01:04:59.695 --> 01:05:00.529
So

1975
01:05:02.899 --> 01:05:04.400
I don't know how much more to

1976
01:05:04.400 --> 01:05:05.801
convey to you about

1977
01:05:05.801 --> 01:05:08.004
why it's important that you look past

1978
01:05:08.571 --> 01:05:09.171
the diagnosis.

1979
01:05:09.171 --> 01:05:11.774
So if you're a professor, yes.

1980
01:05:11.774 --> 01:05:13.042
If you're a teacher, yes.

1981
01:05:13.042 --> 01:05:15.144
The diagnosis is fine--yes,

1982
01:05:15.144 --> 01:05:16.379
you need to deal with it.

1983
01:05:16.379 --> 01:05:18.481
But it's the human

1984
01:05:19.415 --> 01:05:22.251
because in London, they were like, Oh,

1985
01:05:22.251 --> 01:05:24.754
I had a really bad accent--

1986
01:05:24.754 --> 01:05:25.755
--really, really bad.

1987
01:05:25.755 --> 01:05:26.555
I tried to do it.

1988
01:05:26.555 --> 01:05:27.123
I was like, [in bad

1989
01:05:27.123 --> 01:05:27.924
British accent] "Hello"

1990
01:05:27.924 --> 01:05:31.327
and they were like, You all right?

1991
01:05:31.327 --> 01:05:32.194
And I was like, Okay,

1992
01:05:32.194 --> 01:05:33.095
okay, I'm all right.

1993
01:05:34.897 --> 01:05:35.364
But when

1994
01:05:35.364 --> 01:05:36.966
I rolled into the event,

1995
01:05:36.966 --> 01:05:38.501
they thought I was a new patient.

1996
01:05:38.501 --> 01:05:41.304
And they were like, Who's he with?

1997
01:05:41.304 --> 01:05:43.005
Is he is he one of your consumers?

1998
01:05:43.005 --> 01:05:44.840
Oh I don't know--and I'm

1999
01:05:44.840 --> 01:05:47.243
sitting right there,

2000
01:05:47.376 --> 01:05:49.412
so of course I go into like,

2001
01:05:49.412 --> 01:05:49.879
[in labored voice].

2002
01:05:50.179 --> 01:05:52.581
No, I'm not one of your consumers.

2003
01:05:52.581 --> 01:05:55.518
They thought I was part of the band.

2004
01:05:55.518 --> 01:05:56.152
Like, okay.

2005
01:05:56.152 --> 01:05:58.354
And then when I got on stage to speak

2006
01:05:58.354 --> 01:05:59.255
the same people

2007
01:05:59.255 --> 01:06:01.390
who were talking are like, Oh, oh, my.

2008
01:06:01.857 --> 01:06:04.694
Oh, my God, you're so amazing.

2009
01:06:04.694 --> 01:06:06.395
But before that,

2010
01:06:06.395 --> 01:06:09.498
I was just this poor, crippled guy.

2011
01:06:10.399 --> 01:06:11.334
Why did it change

2012
01:06:11.334 --> 01:06:13.436
when I got on stage?

2013
01:06:14.637 --> 01:06:17.306
I literally at LSU gave a speech.

2014
01:06:17.640 --> 01:06:18.441
I was sitting down

2015
01:06:18.441 --> 01:06:20.042
eating grits and eggs--mmm,

2016
01:06:20.042 --> 01:06:21.210
that sounds good right

2017
01:06:21.210 --> 01:06:22.611
nos--I was sitting eating grits and eggs,

2018
01:06:22.611 --> 01:06:24.480
and there was these four women

2019
01:06:24.480 --> 01:06:26.048
sitting behind me.

2020
01:06:26.048 --> 01:06:27.016
I don't believe they

2021
01:06:27.016 --> 01:06:28.884
just let him sit out here and

2022
01:06:28.884 --> 01:06:29.852
eat like that.

2023
01:06:29.852 --> 01:06:31.821
Why he eat like that, where is his nurse?

2024
01:06:34.023 --> 01:06:35.624
They're sitting right there.

2025
01:06:35.624 --> 01:06:37.660
Why is he--who

2026
01:06:37.927 --> 01:06:39.762
let him come out here by hisself?

2027
01:06:39.762 --> 01:06:40.863
I hope his nurse comes.

2028
01:06:41.931 --> 01:06:43.332
And I'm just eating.

2029
01:06:43.332 --> 01:06:47.136
And then we go across and then I roll

2030
01:06:47.136 --> 01:06:49.038
because it's time to do the thing.

2031
01:06:49.038 --> 01:06:50.439
And they show a video

2032
01:06:50.439 --> 01:06:52.775
and my face comes up

2033
01:06:52.975 --> 01:06:55.478
and then they introduce me, read the bio,

2034
01:06:55.478 --> 01:06:56.479
and I roll up

2035
01:06:56.479 --> 01:06:59.281
and the first four faces I see, I see

2036
01:07:00.316 --> 01:07:01.650
all the same four faces

2037
01:07:01.650 --> 01:07:06.389
that was talking about, where's my nurse?

2038
01:07:06.455 --> 01:07:06.655
Now, see,

2039
01:07:06.655 --> 01:07:08.090
I could be a little sadistic and say,

2040
01:07:08.090 --> 01:07:10.159
we can play nurse, but

2041
01:07:11.961 --> 01:07:14.263
we're not going to do that at 8:00

2042
01:07:14.263 --> 01:07:15.431
in the morning.

2043
01:07:15.431 --> 01:07:16.632
Okay, maybe 7:30.

2044
01:07:16.632 --> 01:07:17.233
But

2045
01:07:18.100 --> 01:07:19.001
then they realized,

2046
01:07:19.001 --> 01:07:20.903
and the look on their faces was shock.

2047
01:07:20.903 --> 01:07:21.670
Oh!

2048
01:07:23.606 --> 01:07:24.640
And at the end of the speech,

2049
01:07:24.640 --> 01:07:25.241
they're like,

2050
01:07:25.241 --> 01:07:28.344
Oh Mister Jones, can we take a picture?

2051
01:07:28.344 --> 01:07:30.713
No. Remember I need a nurse.

2052
01:07:31.914 --> 01:07:34.884
I shouldn't have been let out my myself.

2053
01:07:34.884 --> 01:07:36.852
Who the hell am I?

2054
01:07:37.119 --> 01:07:37.887
Oh no,

2055
01:07:40.156 --> 01:07:42.925
we was just joking!

2056
01:07:42.925 --> 01:07:45.828
Mm-hm. You never know.

2057
01:07:45.828 --> 01:07:48.431
And I told the story yesterday

2058
01:07:48.431 --> 01:07:50.266
and I'm gonna tell it today.

2059
01:07:50.499 --> 01:07:51.000
True story, told it yesterday,

2060
01:07:51.000 --> 01:07:53.769
gonna tell it today.

2061
01:07:53.769 --> 01:07:56.806
To illustrate why you need to be beyond

2062
01:07:57.339 --> 01:07:58.274
just inclusion,

2063
01:07:58.274 --> 01:08:00.309
you need to help permeate society.

2064
01:08:00.576 --> 01:08:04.313
So I used to smoke cigarettes--and yes,

2065
01:08:04.480 --> 01:08:06.082
I know you're probably

2066
01:08:06.082 --> 01:08:07.616
trying to figure out how

2067
01:08:07.616 --> 01:08:08.818
the hell did I light the cigarette.

2068
01:08:08.818 --> 01:08:10.519
I didn't burn down the house, so.

2069
01:08:10.519 --> 01:08:11.754
Okay, we good.

2070
01:08:11.754 --> 01:08:13.189
But I would smoke cigarettes.

2071
01:08:13.189 --> 01:08:14.056
I was sitting outside

2072
01:08:14.056 --> 01:08:16.158
my office, chillin'.

2073
01:08:16.158 --> 01:08:19.829
And this guy walks by.

2074
01:08:19.829 --> 01:08:21.130
Have you ever made eye contact

2075
01:08:21.130 --> 01:08:22.364
with somebody

2076
01:08:22.364 --> 01:08:23.099
that you really didn't

2077
01:08:23.099 --> 01:08:25.434
want to make eye contact with?

2078
01:08:25.434 --> 01:08:25.668
You're like, Shit. Allright.

2079
01:08:25.668 --> 01:08:25.701
Hm. How you doin'?

2080
01:08:29.205 --> 01:08:30.406
And see, I'm from the Midwest,

2081
01:08:30.406 --> 01:08:32.007
so we not like everybody.

2082
01:08:32.007 --> 01:08:34.009
He turned around, reaches in his pocket

2083
01:08:34.443 --> 01:08:36.879
and pulls out a $10 bill.

2084
01:08:36.879 --> 01:08:38.781
And tries to hand it to me.

2085
01:08:38.781 --> 01:08:40.616
I don't want your $10. Take the $10.

2086
01:08:40.616 --> 01:08:42.651
No I don't I want to.

2087
01:08:42.651 --> 01:08:45.955
So I took it because it was a lunch time.

2088
01:08:45.955 --> 01:08:48.924
And I went and I said, now, Why did he

2089
01:08:49.158 --> 01:08:50.693
why did he reach in its pocket

2090
01:08:50.693 --> 01:08:52.728
to offer me $10?

2091
01:08:52.728 --> 01:08:55.297
The dude at the check cashing place

2092
01:08:55.297 --> 01:08:59.135
gave me $3, so I guess I upgraded, right?

2093
01:08:59.135 --> 01:09:01.871
Then I--he didn't do it for me.

2094
01:09:03.973 --> 01:09:06.375
He did it for himself

2095
01:09:06.742 --> 01:09:08.244
because again, whatever

2096
01:09:08.244 --> 01:09:10.513
his experience was about disability,

2097
01:09:10.513 --> 01:09:12.581
he needed to give that disabled

2098
01:09:12.581 --> 01:09:13.582
person money.

2099
01:09:13.582 --> 01:09:15.217
I started getting a little concerned

2100
01:09:15.217 --> 01:09:16.418
because I didn't know

2101
01:09:16.418 --> 01:09:17.486
if I had dressed appropriately,

2102
01:09:17.486 --> 01:09:19.788
if I looked like I needed $10.

2103
01:09:20.356 --> 01:09:21.023
But I took it.

2104
01:09:22.124 --> 01:09:24.059
And we jump forward a week,

2105
01:09:24.059 --> 01:09:24.793
so it's payday.

2106
01:09:24.793 --> 01:09:25.461
And I got paid,

2107
01:09:25.461 --> 01:09:26.061
I got some money,

2108
01:09:26.061 --> 01:09:27.930
and I went shopping and I'm singing

2109
01:09:27.930 --> 01:09:28.430
Michael Jackson

2110
01:09:28.430 --> 01:09:30.099
as I'm rolling through the food court.

2111
01:09:30.099 --> 01:09:32.535
[singing like Michael Jackson] "Beat it!

2112
01:09:32.535 --> 01:09:35.104
Beat it!" And I look up,

2113
01:09:35.104 --> 01:09:37.206
I make eye contact.

2114
01:09:37.206 --> 01:09:39.975
It's the same dude.

2115
01:09:39.975 --> 01:09:41.677
Oh.

2116
01:09:41.677 --> 01:09:44.446
He reaches in his pocket,

2117
01:09:46.148 --> 01:09:47.583
walks over, and pulls out

2118
01:09:47.583 --> 01:09:48.918
another $10 bill,

2119
01:09:48.918 --> 01:09:50.986
and tries to hand it to me.

2120
01:09:50.986 --> 01:09:52.521
I'm like, I don't want your $10.

2121
01:09:52.521 --> 01:09:53.622
Take the ten $10.

2122
01:09:53.622 --> 01:09:55.057
I don't want your $10. Take the ten.

2123
01:09:55.057 --> 01:09:55.558
I don't want the damn $10.

2124
01:09:55.558 --> 01:09:56.458
Take it--aaah.

2125
01:09:56.458 --> 01:09:58.661
Then I took it

2126
01:09:59.862 --> 01:10:02.231
because Panda Express was right behind me

2127
01:10:03.499 --> 01:10:06.802
and I love the almond shrimp.

2128
01:10:06.802 --> 01:10:07.336
And then this other guy

2129
01:10:07.336 --> 01:10:07.736
saw it, and

2130
01:10:07.736 --> 01:10:09.505
patted me on the head

2131
01:10:09.505 --> 01:10:09.905
and was like,

2132
01:10:09.905 --> 01:10:11.507
threw $0.85 in the wheelchair.

2133
01:10:11.507 --> 01:10:14.977
It's like, you bastard, you $9 short.

2134
01:10:14.977 --> 01:10:18.314
Pity starts at $10.

2135
01:10:18.314 --> 01:10:20.683
And I was like--and

2136
01:10:20.683 --> 01:10:22.418
it showed why he did it

2137
01:10:23.385 --> 01:10:24.386
because apparently

2138
01:10:24.386 --> 01:10:28.357
a person with a disability needs pity.

2139
01:10:28.390 --> 01:10:30.359
Now, a week after that,

2140
01:10:30.359 --> 01:10:31.594
I'm rolling through the same Back

2141
01:10:31.594 --> 01:10:35.297
Bay station, and the guy walks up--those

2142
01:10:35.297 --> 01:10:36.365
that's heard

2143
01:10:36.365 --> 01:10:38.601
this, you'll know the story--and

2144
01:10:38.601 --> 01:10:39.735
he says, Hey,

2145
01:10:40.436 --> 01:10:41.337
do you believe in Jesus?

2146
01:10:41.337 --> 01:10:41.804
Hmmm.

2147
01:10:44.139 --> 01:10:44.473
Oh.

2148
01:10:44.473 --> 01:10:45.541
Now, my

2149
01:10:45.541 --> 01:10:46.809
grandmother took us to church

2150
01:10:46.809 --> 01:10:47.943
Monday to Monday,

2151
01:10:47.943 --> 01:10:48.611
so I heard her

2152
01:10:48.611 --> 01:10:49.812
in the back of my head, Baby,

2153
01:10:49.812 --> 01:10:51.280
if somebody wants to talk about

2154
01:10:51.280 --> 01:10:54.083
Jesus, you say yes.

2155
01:10:54.683 --> 01:10:54.950
So I said [wearily] Yes.

2156
01:10:54.950 --> 01:10:55.150
And he said, Well,

2157
01:10:55.150 --> 01:10:55.618
do you know

2158
01:10:55.618 --> 01:10:59.221
Jesus has your new body in heaven?

2159
01:10:59.688 --> 01:11:01.023
What the hell is--what's

2160
01:11:01.023 --> 01:11:02.124
wrong with this one?

2161
01:11:02.124 --> 01:11:04.660
I get really good parking,

2162
01:11:05.261 --> 01:11:06.428
I get on all the rides

2163
01:11:06.428 --> 01:11:07.429
first,

2164
01:11:07.630 --> 01:11:08.264
and I get free

2165
01:11:08.264 --> 01:11:09.698
lap dances at the strip club.

2166
01:11:09.698 --> 01:11:12.034
No, I'm not trading it. And

2167
01:11:13.035 --> 01:11:13.702
it's like, so he says, Can

2168
01:11:13.702 --> 01:11:15.004
I pray for you?

2169
01:11:15.004 --> 01:11:17.139
[with frustration] Mmmm.

2170
01:11:17.139 --> 01:11:18.574
Then I hear my grandmother

2171
01:11:18.574 --> 01:11:19.275
voice again, Baby,

2172
01:11:19.275 --> 01:11:21.277
if they wanna pray for you, let 'em pray.

2173
01:11:21.944 --> 01:11:23.145
Fine!

2174
01:11:24.613 --> 01:11:26.215
Go ahead and pray.

2175
01:11:26.215 --> 01:11:27.816
So he starts praying.

2176
01:11:27.816 --> 01:11:28.784
Dear Lord, please

2177
01:11:28.784 --> 01:11:29.285
forgive this man's mother

2178
01:11:29.285 --> 01:11:29.585
for what she did

2179
01:11:31.020 --> 01:11:32.988
to cause his body to be that way.

2180
01:11:32.988 --> 01:11:34.657
So I'm gonna pause right here

2181
01:11:34.657 --> 01:11:35.791
and give y'all a cultural note.

2182
01:11:35.791 --> 01:11:38.394
The little that heard it yesterday,

2183
01:11:38.394 --> 01:11:39.928
you know what the note is.

2184
01:11:39.928 --> 01:11:40.729
The cultural note

2185
01:11:40.729 --> 01:11:41.664
is that there's two things

2186
01:11:41.664 --> 01:11:43.365
you don't do to black men.

2187
01:11:43.365 --> 01:11:45.401
One, you don't talk about their mama.

2188
01:11:45.401 --> 01:11:48.070
Two, you don't talk about their mama.

2189
01:11:49.672 --> 01:11:51.607
So I started praying.

2190
01:11:51.607 --> 01:11:52.574
Dear Lord, please

2191
01:11:52.574 --> 01:11:54.109
don't help me beat his ass for talking

2192
01:11:54.109 --> 01:11:55.544
about my mama.

2193
01:11:55.544 --> 01:11:57.646
Amen. Amen.

2194
01:11:59.415 --> 01:12:00.616
And he looked at the

2195
01:12:00.616 --> 01:12:01.083
book, and I looked,

2196
01:12:01.083 --> 01:12:01.350
and I started shaking, and backed up

2197
01:12:01.350 --> 01:12:03.886
and jumped out the wheelchair like

2198
01:12:03.886 --> 01:12:06.855
this, and ran around the wheelchair,

2199
01:12:07.356 --> 01:12:07.690
and ran

2200
01:12:07.690 --> 01:12:08.824
right back to the wheelchair

2201
01:12:08.824 --> 01:12:10.926
and sat down, and took off.

2202
01:12:10.926 --> 01:12:12.061
He looked at the book and was like,

2203
01:12:12.061 --> 01:12:14.163
oh shit, it works.

2204
01:12:19.301 --> 01:12:21.036
And I can only imagine

2205
01:12:21.036 --> 01:12:21.437
what he did

2206
01:12:21.437 --> 01:12:23.138
to the next person in a wheelchair.

2207
01:12:23.138 --> 01:12:23.839
It worked the last time!

2208
01:12:23.839 --> 01:12:26.442
Get up, man, get up!

2209
01:12:27.876 --> 01:12:29.044
No, I really can't walk.

2210
01:12:29.044 --> 01:12:34.850
Yes, you can, yes you can!

2211
01:12:34.850 --> 01:12:40.622
But if you don't...but

2212
01:12:40.622 --> 01:12:42.291
if you don't...if

2213
01:12:42.291 --> 01:12:45.194
you don't have an interaction

2214
01:12:45.194 --> 01:12:47.296
with people with disabilities,

2215
01:12:47.296 --> 01:12:50.032
if you've never seen us just live,

2216
01:12:50.499 --> 01:12:53.435
then you think you need to heal us.

2217
01:12:53.435 --> 01:12:55.604
Then you think you need to fix us.

2218
01:12:55.604 --> 01:12:57.306
You think you need to pray for us.

2219
01:12:57.306 --> 01:12:59.675
'Cause our life is so miserable.

2220
01:12:59.675 --> 01:13:02.111
The movie--have

2221
01:13:02.111 --> 01:13:02.578
you ever seen

2222
01:13:02.578 --> 01:13:03.579
the movie "Before You"--or

2223
01:13:03.579 --> 01:13:04.480
is it "After

2224
01:13:04.480 --> 01:13:05.981
You"?--"After You," "Before Me," "Next

2225
01:13:05.981 --> 01:13:06.548
to You,"---whatever

2226
01:13:06.548 --> 01:13:10.853
they named the movie--where the guy

2227
01:13:10.853 --> 01:13:12.087
becomes paralyzed

2228
01:13:13.389 --> 01:13:14.289
and rather than

2229
01:13:14.289 --> 01:13:16.625
living like hell, he kills himself?

2230
01:13:18.127 --> 01:13:20.462
People really think that

2231
01:13:20.462 --> 01:13:22.698
death is better than having a disability.

2232
01:13:23.832 --> 01:13:26.568
When Stephen Hawking passed,

2233
01:13:26.568 --> 01:13:29.304
they said he's free now.

2234
01:13:29.304 --> 01:13:30.005
He can walk.

2235
01:13:30.005 --> 01:13:30.739
They showed--there's

2236
01:13:30.739 --> 01:13:32.241
an illustration of him

2237
01:13:32.241 --> 01:13:34.143
walking away from this wheelchair

2238
01:13:34.143 --> 01:13:36.779
going up the escalator.

2239
01:13:37.112 --> 01:13:38.847
What--what is--so, consciously,

2240
01:13:38.847 --> 01:13:40.983
what does it say

2241
01:13:40.983 --> 01:13:43.786
to a person with a disability?

2242
01:13:44.219 --> 01:13:46.155
That you will--your

2243
01:13:46.155 --> 01:13:47.489
physical human state

2244
01:13:47.489 --> 01:13:48.690
would be much better off

2245
01:13:48.690 --> 01:13:49.992
if you were dead.

2246
01:13:49.992 --> 01:13:53.095
This is why it's critically important

2247
01:13:53.295 --> 01:13:56.865
for you to appreciate the power

2248
01:13:56.865 --> 01:13:59.268
that you have to change the narrative

2249
01:14:00.936 --> 01:14:03.272
to make sure that we are included,

2250
01:14:03.272 --> 01:14:05.140
to make sure that you are inclusive

2251
01:14:05.140 --> 01:14:06.175
in your thought.

2252
01:14:06.175 --> 01:14:08.410
Again, you don't have to like everybody,

2253
01:14:09.912 --> 01:14:12.548
but respect their humanity

2254
01:14:12.548 --> 01:14:13.449
as much as you want

2255
01:14:13.449 --> 01:14:15.584
your humanity respected.

2256
01:14:15.584 --> 01:14:17.653
Because at any given time

2257
01:14:17.686 --> 01:14:19.588
you can enter the world of disability.

2258
01:14:19.588 --> 01:14:23.225
And we cool, we take everybody.

2259
01:14:23.225 --> 01:14:26.562
Trust--I know y'all, man,

2260
01:14:26.562 --> 01:14:28.363
because you know, when you go shopping

2261
01:14:28.363 --> 01:14:29.865
and you drive around the parking lot

2262
01:14:29.865 --> 01:14:30.999
and the only spots

2263
01:14:30.999 --> 01:14:32.868
open are handicapped parking,

2264
01:14:32.868 --> 01:14:34.236
you all are pissed because you don't have

2265
01:14:34.236 --> 01:14:34.303
a handicapped parking

2266
01:14:35.437 --> 01:14:36.038
space.

2267
01:14:36.939 --> 01:14:39.975
That's why you want to join the club.

2268
01:14:40.676 --> 01:14:42.010
Or you go to Six Flags

2269
01:14:42.010 --> 01:14:44.246
and you're standing on line for 10 hours.

2270
01:14:44.246 --> 01:14:45.681
You see everybody with a wheelchair

2271
01:14:45.681 --> 01:14:46.849
going up and getting on and coming off

2272
01:14:46.849 --> 01:14:48.350
and getting on and coming off--you

2273
01:14:48.350 --> 01:14:50.986
want to be down with us.

2274
01:14:51.153 --> 01:14:51.620
Matter of fact,

2275
01:14:51.620 --> 01:14:52.187
I want to tell you,

2276
01:14:52.187 --> 01:14:53.522
if you want to get in good,

2277
01:14:53.522 --> 01:14:54.823
go get you a disabled friend.

2278
01:14:54.823 --> 01:14:57.893
You get all the perks in the world.

2279
01:14:58.660 --> 01:15:01.296
This is why it's important,

2280
01:15:01.296 --> 01:15:02.431
because my friends, up

2281
01:15:02.431 --> 01:15:03.765
until they have met me,

2282
01:15:03.765 --> 01:15:05.434
they say--I have a friend of mine

2283
01:15:05.434 --> 01:15:06.335
say, Dude,

2284
01:15:06.335 --> 01:15:07.870
I never knew a person in a wheelchair

2285
01:15:07.870 --> 01:15:09.371
until I met you.

2286
01:15:09.905 --> 01:15:11.974
I said, You did, you probably just

2287
01:15:11.974 --> 01:15:13.675
didn't associate with them.

2288
01:15:13.675 --> 01:15:15.444
He was like, you're right.

2289
01:15:17.212 --> 01:15:18.247
But then

2290
01:15:18.614 --> 01:15:20.082
once they get cool with you,

2291
01:15:20.082 --> 01:15:20.916
everybody starts

2292
01:15:20.916 --> 01:15:22.484
trying to drive your wheelchair.

2293
01:15:22.484 --> 01:15:25.354
And like having friends in college,

2294
01:15:25.354 --> 01:15:28.056
who drunk, they would call me,

2295
01:15:28.390 --> 01:15:29.258
Dude can I get on

2296
01:15:29.258 --> 01:15:30.192
the back of the wheelchair?

2297
01:15:30.192 --> 01:15:31.293
I'm drunk, too.

2298
01:15:31.293 --> 01:15:32.928
I can't drive the wheelchair and carry

2299
01:15:32.928 --> 01:15:34.663
you back to the dorm.

2300
01:15:35.264 --> 01:15:36.899
That was fun.

2301
01:15:38.100 --> 01:15:39.568
And if you hit a bump with somebody

2302
01:15:39.568 --> 01:15:40.869
on the back of the wheelchair,

2303
01:15:40.869 --> 01:15:41.937
go slow

2304
01:15:41.937 --> 01:15:43.238
because you might roll over them

2305
01:15:43.238 --> 01:15:44.773
on the way back.

2306
01:15:44.773 --> 01:15:45.307
Right?

2307
01:15:45.307 --> 01:15:47.309
Only I didn't do that.

2308
01:15:47.309 --> 01:15:48.577
I mean, he was okay.

2309
01:15:48.577 --> 01:15:49.611
I went back to get him.

2310
01:15:49.611 --> 01:15:52.514
But he was all right.

2311
01:15:52.514 --> 01:15:54.116
And people hear this stuff

2312
01:15:54.116 --> 01:15:55.350
and they go, Oh, my God, Keith,

2313
01:15:55.350 --> 01:15:57.152
you're so-- I'm like, what?

2314
01:15:57.152 --> 01:15:58.520
It was college!

2315
01:15:58.520 --> 01:16:00.622
The stuff we did in college was insane.

2316
01:16:01.857 --> 01:16:03.325
We did--we used to do the

2317
01:16:03.325 --> 01:16:05.827
Jesus heals routine in the mall.

2318
01:16:07.996 --> 01:16:08.897
They would be sayin' --

2319
01:16:08.897 --> 01:16:09.731
because my friends,

2320
01:16:09.731 --> 01:16:10.465
my friends were in gangs,

2321
01:16:10.465 --> 01:16:11.033
and they was all, you know, What

2322
01:16:11.800 --> 01:16:12.134
you lookin' at?

2323
01:16:12.134 --> 01:16:12.834
And I'm like, no,

2324
01:16:12.834 --> 01:16:15.370
you can't fight everybody.

2325
01:16:15.370 --> 01:16:17.706
Like, Yo, let's do the Jesus heals thing.

2326
01:16:17.706 --> 01:16:19.174
Like, No, we're not going to do

2327
01:16:19.174 --> 01:16:19.942
the Jesus heals

2328
01:16:19.942 --> 01:16:20.275
thing--Okay,

2329
01:16:20.275 --> 01:16:23.712
let's do the Jesus heals thing.

2330
01:16:23.712 --> 01:16:25.614
Because we knew

2331
01:16:25.614 --> 01:16:27.983
what people were presuming.

2332
01:16:27.983 --> 01:16:29.618
So as opposed to spending energy

2333
01:16:29.618 --> 01:16:30.185
on trying to

2334
01:16:30.185 --> 01:16:31.286
challenge their ignorance,

2335
01:16:31.286 --> 01:16:33.889
we were just going to expose it.

2336
01:16:33.889 --> 01:16:36.158
You have the--you

2337
01:16:36.158 --> 01:16:38.560
have the ability here today and tomorrow

2338
01:16:38.560 --> 01:16:39.628
for the rest of your life

2339
01:16:39.628 --> 01:16:41.830
to take that next step.

2340
01:16:42.431 --> 01:16:43.899
Who's in your circle?

2341
01:16:43.899 --> 01:16:45.934
Who's in your family.

2342
01:16:45.934 --> 01:16:47.703
If you have a member, family member

2343
01:16:47.703 --> 01:16:49.204
that has a disability,

2344
01:16:49.204 --> 01:16:50.505
are they treated like family

2345
01:16:50.505 --> 01:16:51.974
or are they, like, off to the side?

2346
01:16:54.042 --> 01:16:56.311
If you are part of a social club,

2347
01:16:56.311 --> 01:16:59.781
how inclusive is that social club?

2348
01:16:59.781 --> 01:17:01.149
If you're part of a fraternity

2349
01:17:01.149 --> 01:17:02.651
or sorority,

2350
01:17:02.651 --> 01:17:05.687
what's the makeup of that group?

2351
01:17:05.687 --> 01:17:08.156
If you're part of a rap group, like me,

2352
01:17:08.991 --> 01:17:11.893
you do--what's the makeup?

2353
01:17:11.893 --> 01:17:13.261
And if the reason is that

2354
01:17:13.261 --> 01:17:14.363
you don't know somebody

2355
01:17:14.363 --> 01:17:17.199
with a disability, that's a bad excuse.

2356
01:17:19.034 --> 01:17:21.370
You are the future.

2357
01:17:21.370 --> 01:17:23.705
You will make inclusion happen,

2358
01:17:24.640 --> 01:17:26.975
but you have to be willing to look past

2359
01:17:27.576 --> 01:17:29.077
the disability

2360
01:17:29.077 --> 01:17:31.179
to see the human that is in it.

2361
01:17:31.580 --> 01:17:33.515
Thank you very much.

2362
01:17:48.263 --> 01:17:49.731
All right.

2363
01:17:49.731 --> 01:17:50.732
Are we on time?

2364
01:17:50.732 --> 01:17:52.334
Thanks Keith -- yeah, we're on time.

2365
01:17:52.334 --> 01:17:54.369
We have a few minutes for

2366
01:17:55.470 --> 01:17:56.805
a couple of questions.

2367
01:17:56.805 --> 01:17:58.206
And, before I give it for

2368
01:17:58.206 --> 01:17:59.408
for the questions,

2369
01:17:59.408 --> 01:18:00.308
I just want to let you know

2370
01:18:00.308 --> 01:18:02.411
that you do have an open house

2371
01:18:02.411 --> 01:18:03.445
going on in

2372
01:18:03.445 --> 01:18:05.347
Woodring, the College of Ed--jso ust

2373
01:18:05.347 --> 01:18:07.115
the next building, in Miller Hall.

2374
01:18:07.115 --> 01:18:08.016
We have some displays

2375
01:18:08.016 --> 01:18:09.384
somewhere, too, particularly

2376
01:18:09.384 --> 01:18:11.153
some posters and displayed

2377
01:18:11.153 --> 01:18:11.420
together with Assistive

2378
01:18:11.420 --> 01:18:11.520
Technology and, I think,

2379
01:18:14.256 --> 01:18:15.524
the Nursing program

2380
01:18:15.524 --> 01:18:16.158
has some displays there, too, so please

2381
01:18:16.158 --> 01:18:16.825
join us,

2382
01:18:16.825 --> 01:18:18.226
have some snacks, and Keith

2383
01:18:18.226 --> 01:18:20.762
will be there too--right?

2384
01:18:21.129 --> 01:18:22.431
I think so, yep.

2385
01:18:22.431 --> 01:18:23.198
That's where I'm going.

2386
01:18:23.198 --> 01:18:24.433
Okay. Yeah, I'll be there.

2387
01:18:24.433 --> 01:18:25.167
All right.

2388
01:18:28.570 --> 01:18:29.371
Any questions?

2389
01:18:29.371 --> 01:18:31.873
I'll just bring this around.

2390
01:18:32.607 --> 01:18:33.241
[Keith Jones] Money?

2391
01:18:33.241 --> 01:18:35.844
Up there.

2392
01:18:35.844 --> 01:18:40.382
[Audience member]

2393
01:18:40.382 --> 01:18:45.153
So what would you say to the young child

2394
01:18:45.454 --> 01:18:48.190
growing up with older siblings that have

2395
01:18:49.257 --> 01:18:51.727
disabilities and not understanding

2396
01:18:53.595 --> 01:18:56.031
their time from their parents

2397
01:18:56.031 --> 01:18:57.199
in a way [Keith

2398
01:18:57.199 --> 01:19:01.002
Jones] Mmm, that that's the challenge.

2399
01:19:01.002 --> 01:19:02.971
Well, I would say to the child,

2400
01:19:02.971 --> 01:19:04.940
if I was talking to the kid who's like,

2401
01:19:04.940 --> 01:19:05.674
you know,

2402
01:19:05.707 --> 01:19:07.609
some kids need a little more attention

2403
01:19:07.609 --> 01:19:09.644
in terms of what they need to do.

2404
01:19:09.644 --> 01:19:10.879
So if it looks like mom

2405
01:19:10.879 --> 01:19:12.481
is taking a little more time

2406
01:19:12.481 --> 01:19:13.248
to help your brother

2407
01:19:13.248 --> 01:19:15.016
or your sister get dressed,

2408
01:19:15.016 --> 01:19:16.685
that's just because they need more time

2409
01:19:16.685 --> 01:19:17.919
to get dressed.

2410
01:19:17.919 --> 01:19:18.887
That has nothing to do

2411
01:19:18.887 --> 01:19:20.889
with whether or not they love you less.

2412
01:19:20.889 --> 01:19:22.991
They just need more help

2413
01:19:22.991 --> 01:19:24.159
and that they need more help

2414
01:19:24.159 --> 01:19:25.360
then, you know,

2415
01:19:25.360 --> 01:19:26.661
that has nothing to do

2416
01:19:26.661 --> 01:19:28.096
with how they feel about you

2417
01:19:28.096 --> 01:19:28.630
and put it

2418
01:19:28.630 --> 01:19:30.065
in that kind of you know,

2419
01:19:30.065 --> 01:19:30.432
because

2420
01:19:30.432 --> 01:19:33.468
because there are studies about siblings

2421
01:19:34.035 --> 01:19:35.771
of siblings, one

2422
01:19:35.771 --> 01:19:37.739
with and without a disability

2423
01:19:37.739 --> 01:19:39.674
and that family dynamic

2424
01:19:39.674 --> 01:19:40.809
and whether it's an older

2425
01:19:40.809 --> 01:19:42.544
sibling or a younger sibling,

2426
01:19:42.544 --> 01:19:44.012
how that plays out,

2427
01:19:44.012 --> 01:19:45.847
and how that social,

2428
01:19:45.847 --> 01:19:47.516
that social dynamic--

2429
01:19:47.516 --> 01:19:49.084
because typically

2430
01:19:49.084 --> 01:19:51.820
when families experience disability

2431
01:19:52.287 --> 01:19:53.221
through a child, it's

2432
01:19:53.221 --> 01:19:55.023
usually their first time,

2433
01:19:55.023 --> 01:19:56.658
like they've never--because again,

2434
01:19:56.658 --> 01:19:57.759
if you've gone through school

2435
01:19:57.759 --> 01:19:58.360
your whole life

2436
01:19:58.360 --> 01:19:59.528
and you never interacted

2437
01:19:59.528 --> 01:20:01.196
with a person with a disability

2438
01:20:01.196 --> 01:20:02.230
and then bam,

2439
01:20:03.698 --> 01:20:04.099
you have a

2440
01:20:04.099 --> 01:20:05.934
child with a disability,

2441
01:20:05.934 --> 01:20:06.401
you're like,

2442
01:20:06.401 --> 01:20:08.170
what the hell just happened to me?

2443
01:20:08.170 --> 01:20:10.472
You go down the rabbit hole with Alice,

2444
01:20:10.472 --> 01:20:12.240
and so you have no--there's

2445
01:20:12.240 --> 01:20:13.542
no frame of reference.

2446
01:20:13.542 --> 01:20:15.777
And everybody who's an expert

2447
01:20:15.777 --> 01:20:17.979
is an expert on something else other than

2448
01:20:18.280 --> 01:20:21.116
how do I raise my child, not

2449
01:20:22.150 --> 01:20:23.585
raise a diagnosis?

2450
01:20:23.585 --> 01:20:25.120
So I would say to the youngest

2451
01:20:25.120 --> 01:20:27.789
siblings that you are--you are

2452
01:20:28.423 --> 01:20:30.692
just as important as the older sibling

2453
01:20:31.393 --> 01:20:32.194
is, just

2454
01:20:32.194 --> 01:20:34.095
they need a little more help to--whether

2455
01:20:34.095 --> 01:20:36.298
it's to communicate, whether it's to eat,

2456
01:20:36.531 --> 01:20:37.199
whether it's to walk--they

2457
01:20:37.199 --> 01:20:38.900
just need more help.

2458
01:20:38.900 --> 01:20:41.670
And, you know, and explain to them

2459
01:20:41.670 --> 01:20:43.104
that you are going to be--you're

2460
01:20:43.104 --> 01:20:44.272
going to have to be there for them,

2461
01:20:44.272 --> 01:20:46.141
because not everybody is going to be

2462
01:20:46.141 --> 01:20:47.676
as understanding as you are.

2463
01:20:48.610 --> 01:20:50.946
That's partly what I would say.

2464
01:20:50.946 --> 01:20:51.413
Yeah.

2465
01:20:56.351 --> 01:20:57.285
[audience member] Growing up,

2466
01:20:57.285 --> 01:20:58.520
what do you wish

2467
01:20:58.520 --> 01:21:00.522
your teachers did differently,

2468
01:21:00.522 --> 01:21:01.823
when working with you?

2469
01:21:01.823 --> 01:21:02.424
[Keith Jones]

2470
01:21:02.424 --> 01:21:03.291
What I wish they did differently

2471
01:21:03.291 --> 01:21:06.995
was not assume that I couldn't.

2472
01:21:06.995 --> 01:21:11.499
Act, like, legitimately presume

2473
01:21:12.033 --> 01:21:13.702
that the reason I'm in their class

2474
01:21:13.702 --> 01:21:15.670
is because I want to learn,

2475
01:21:15.670 --> 01:21:16.872
not because I'm here

2476
01:21:16.872 --> 01:21:19.608
just to take up space.

2477
01:21:19.608 --> 01:21:21.676
I was fortunate that my mother was

2478
01:21:21.676 --> 01:21:23.111
and my family were great advocates,

2479
01:21:23.111 --> 01:21:26.081
so I never got to use my disability

2480
01:21:26.081 --> 01:21:27.048
as an excuse.

2481
01:21:27.048 --> 01:21:30.185
Damn! But

2482
01:21:30.185 --> 01:21:32.554
like legitimately that was 30 years ago.

2483
01:21:32.554 --> 01:21:32.888
And even

2484
01:21:32.888 --> 01:21:33.722
now there are kids

2485
01:21:33.722 --> 01:21:34.789
who are in

2486
01:21:34.789 --> 01:21:36.658
substantially segregated classrooms

2487
01:21:36.658 --> 01:21:38.860
because teachers

2488
01:21:38.860 --> 01:21:39.461
don't think

2489
01:21:39.461 --> 01:21:41.529
that they have the capacity to learn.

2490
01:21:41.529 --> 01:21:41.963
Not did

2491
01:21:41.963 --> 01:21:43.098
the kids don't have the capacity

2492
01:21:43.098 --> 01:21:45.000
to learn--everybody

2493
01:21:45.000 --> 01:21:46.201
in this room learns a different

2494
01:21:46.201 --> 01:21:47.168
kind of way.

2495
01:21:47.335 --> 01:21:48.803
Some people learn by watching,

2496
01:21:48.803 --> 01:21:50.405
some people learn by doing,

2497
01:21:50.405 --> 01:21:51.706
some people learn by listening,

2498
01:21:51.706 --> 01:21:52.107
some people

2499
01:21:53.074 --> 01:21:54.342
by an amalgamation.

2500
01:21:54.342 --> 01:21:56.711
So it is not fair

2501
01:21:57.078 --> 01:21:58.813
because the child got labeled

2502
01:21:58.813 --> 01:22:00.181
with the diagnosis

2503
01:22:00.181 --> 01:22:00.815
to presume

2504
01:22:00.815 --> 01:22:02.918
that they have no intelligence,

2505
01:22:02.918 --> 01:22:03.818
no competence.

2506
01:22:03.818 --> 01:22:04.853
Because

2507
01:22:04.886 --> 01:22:06.688
before the sufferage movement,

2508
01:22:06.688 --> 01:22:08.723
women were not seen as engineers,

2509
01:22:08.723 --> 01:22:10.725
all right? You know.

2510
01:22:10.725 --> 01:22:11.760
And you know

2511
01:22:11.760 --> 01:22:13.662
prior to 1965 black folks,

2512
01:22:13.662 --> 01:22:14.696
we couldn't--like

2513
01:22:14.696 --> 01:22:16.331
there are real barriers.

2514
01:22:16.331 --> 01:22:18.233
So if you're going to be an educator

2515
01:22:18.233 --> 01:22:20.735
you should presume competence,

2516
01:22:20.735 --> 01:22:22.504
presume intelligence.

2517
01:22:22.504 --> 01:22:24.539
And if and you know,

2518
01:22:24.539 --> 01:22:25.974
because some people will say,

2519
01:22:25.974 --> 01:22:27.776
well, how can I reach this kid

2520
01:22:27.776 --> 01:22:29.110
and reach the valedictorian

2521
01:22:29.110 --> 01:22:30.745
at the same time?

2522
01:22:31.846 --> 01:22:33.581
Well like I told Keith,

2523
01:22:33.581 --> 01:22:35.350
I ask a very simple question.

2524
01:22:35.350 --> 01:22:36.785
If you ask your teacher

2525
01:22:36.785 --> 01:22:39.788
why they teach, if they can't answer

2526
01:22:39.788 --> 01:22:42.157
the question in 30 seconds or less, they

2527
01:22:42.157 --> 01:22:42.958
don't need to teach.

2528
01:22:44.159 --> 01:22:46.361
Because you are dealing with human life,

2529
01:22:46.928 --> 01:22:47.162
like,

2530
01:22:47.162 --> 01:22:50.699
you're leaving fingerprints on forever.

2531
01:22:51.132 --> 01:22:52.367
How many of you remember

2532
01:22:52.367 --> 01:22:54.369
your favorite teacher?

2533
01:22:55.003 --> 01:22:56.404
Now how many of you remember

2534
01:22:56.404 --> 01:22:59.474
the teacher you could not stand?

2535
01:22:59.474 --> 01:23:00.809
Okay.

2536
01:23:01.343 --> 01:23:02.911
That is why it's important

2537
01:23:02.911 --> 01:23:04.512
for the teacher to critically,

2538
01:23:04.512 --> 01:23:06.915
you know--and I got, I got my teachers,

2539
01:23:07.482 --> 01:23:08.984
I constantly was fighting

2540
01:23:08.984 --> 01:23:11.119
but I just would presume that they would,

2541
01:23:11.119 --> 01:23:13.421
if they had to have done differently,

2542
01:23:13.421 --> 01:23:14.756
that they would just assume

2543
01:23:14.756 --> 01:23:16.491
that I was a student and just teach

2544
01:23:16.491 --> 01:23:18.126
and not try to make it out

2545
01:23:18.126 --> 01:23:20.328
to be something that it wasn't.

2546
01:23:20.595 --> 01:23:24.566
[host] Got time for a couple more.

2547
01:23:24.566 --> 01:23:26.167
[audience member] Hi.

2548
01:23:26.167 --> 01:23:27.335
[Keith Jones] How are you doing?

2549
01:23:27.335 --> 01:23:29.104
[audience member] Thank you so much.

2550
01:23:29.104 --> 01:23:31.139
I'm an educational administrator

2551
01:23:31.139 --> 01:23:34.376
and I've noticed that, yes,

2552
01:23:34.376 --> 01:23:36.077
we are inclusive of

2553
01:23:38.046 --> 01:23:39.080
However,

2554
01:23:39.080 --> 01:23:39.647
how can

2555
01:23:39.647 --> 01:23:40.181
you be more

2556
01:23:40.181 --> 01:23:41.816
inclusive in school districts

2557
01:23:41.816 --> 01:23:43.151
and in schools

2558
01:23:43.151 --> 01:23:44.786
to be more truly inclusive

2559
01:23:44.786 --> 01:23:45.887
and welcoming of adults

2560
01:23:45.887 --> 01:23:47.155
with disabilities,

2561
01:23:47.155 --> 01:23:48.823
including hidden disabilities?

2562
01:23:48.823 --> 01:23:52.927
Because I find that we're often like, Oh!

2563
01:23:52.927 --> 01:23:55.330
and it breaks--as

2564
01:23:55.330 --> 01:23:55.997
someone with a hidden disability,

2565
01:23:55.997 --> 01:23:56.231
it breaks my heart.

2566
01:23:56.498 --> 01:24:00.935
Yeah, that--the challenges

2567
01:24:02.037 --> 01:24:03.872
you know for school administrators,

2568
01:24:03.872 --> 01:24:05.807
you know, they you know,

2569
01:24:05.807 --> 01:24:07.776
principals tend to think of their school

2570
01:24:07.776 --> 01:24:10.211
as their own little fiefdom, right?

2571
01:24:12.013 --> 01:24:13.214
And people--and you know,

2572
01:24:13.214 --> 01:24:14.249
you know what you know,

2573
01:24:14.249 --> 01:24:16.217
and you don't know what you don't know.

2574
01:24:16.217 --> 01:24:18.053
But in terms of being inclusive, open

2575
01:24:18.053 --> 01:24:19.687
and accepting

2576
01:24:19.888 --> 01:24:21.156
is that you demand that.

2577
01:24:21.156 --> 01:24:22.957
Like, it has to be a demand.

2578
01:24:22.957 --> 01:24:23.291
It can't be

2579
01:24:23.291 --> 01:24:26.561
an--it is demand and an expectation.

2580
01:24:27.328 --> 01:24:29.697
And particularly in educational settings,

2581
01:24:29.697 --> 01:24:30.131
you know,

2582
01:24:30.131 --> 01:24:31.199
if you're an administrator

2583
01:24:31.199 --> 01:24:33.535
or you have some level of power, you say,

2584
01:24:33.535 --> 01:24:35.470
well, how can we expect our students

2585
01:24:35.470 --> 01:24:37.839
to be well-adjusted to the public

2586
01:24:38.540 --> 01:24:40.542
in society writ large

2587
01:24:40.542 --> 01:24:41.976
if we don't expose them

2588
01:24:41.976 --> 01:24:44.646
to the public and society within our

2589
01:24:44.846 --> 01:24:46.014
within our own little fiefdom?

2590
01:24:47.315 --> 01:24:48.249
And society is

2591
01:24:48.249 --> 01:24:49.384
not homogeneous,

2592
01:24:49.384 --> 01:24:51.352
at least not in this country.

2593
01:24:51.352 --> 01:24:53.321
It is multicultural.

2594
01:24:53.321 --> 01:24:54.722
It is, you know,

2595
01:24:54.722 --> 01:24:56.958
it is non-gender conforming.

2596
01:24:56.958 --> 01:24:58.293
It's everything.

2597
01:24:58.293 --> 01:24:59.828
If you have a hidden disability,

2598
01:24:59.828 --> 01:25:01.396
there's those other things where

2599
01:25:01.396 --> 01:25:02.330
once you express

2600
01:25:02.330 --> 01:25:04.065
that you have a hidden disability,

2601
01:25:04.065 --> 01:25:05.300
peoples attitudes start

2602
01:25:05.300 --> 01:25:07.368
getting really weird.

2603
01:25:07.368 --> 01:25:09.571
Like, I never knew you had one.

2604
01:25:09.571 --> 01:25:11.239
You didn't look like you were disabled!

2605
01:25:11.239 --> 01:25:11.840
Well,

2606
01:25:11.840 --> 01:25:13.842
you didn't look like you were stupid, but

2607
01:25:14.976 --> 01:25:16.344
you know, we keep it moving.

2608
01:25:16.344 --> 01:25:19.114
So it's really about if

2609
01:25:19.848 --> 01:25:20.882
you're an administrator

2610
01:25:20.882 --> 01:25:22.283
and you have some level of power--even

2611
01:25:22.283 --> 01:25:24.352
if you don't--setting the expectations

2612
01:25:24.352 --> 01:25:25.854
prior to the school year

2613
01:25:25.854 --> 01:25:27.956
and bringing in your allies

2614
01:25:27.956 --> 01:25:30.625
or your stakeholders and saying, okay,

2615
01:25:31.860 --> 01:25:34.662
the reality is that autism is X,

2616
01:25:35.130 --> 01:25:37.966
disability is X, these children are X,

2617
01:25:38.399 --> 01:25:39.801
we need to make sure that,

2618
01:25:39.801 --> 01:25:41.903
if nowhere else in their life,

2619
01:25:42.470 --> 01:25:44.739
this is where they feel like their

2620
01:25:44.739 --> 01:25:47.609
their differences will not exclude them

2621
01:25:48.243 --> 01:25:50.178
from being a part of us,

2622
01:25:50.178 --> 01:25:50.545
you know,

2623
01:25:50.545 --> 01:25:51.479
because you can still

2624
01:25:51.479 --> 01:25:53.815
have your differences and be included

2625
01:25:54.516 --> 01:25:55.750
and celebrate that.

2626
01:25:55.750 --> 01:25:58.019
I--the best thing I can say

2627
01:25:58.019 --> 01:25:59.921
without giving you like detailed point

2628
01:25:59.921 --> 01:26:00.788
by point

2629
01:26:00.788 --> 01:26:01.489
training session

2630
01:26:01.489 --> 01:26:02.290
that's for stupid

2631
01:26:02.290 --> 01:26:07.929
people, but...[laughter].

2632
01:26:07.929 --> 01:26:14.402
[audience member] I was in a high school

2633
01:26:14.402 --> 01:26:15.670
and I was working in this

2634
01:26:15.670 --> 01:26:17.939
special education class with students,

2635
01:26:17.939 --> 01:26:19.374
and I remember going to lunch one

2636
01:26:19.374 --> 01:26:21.242
time, and a group students

2637
01:26:21.242 --> 01:26:22.744
that I was sitting with, my friends,

2638
01:26:22.744 --> 01:26:23.778
and my peers,

2639
01:26:23.945 --> 01:26:25.280
were making fun of someone,

2640
01:26:25.280 --> 01:26:26.414
someone that I was

2641
01:26:26.414 --> 01:26:27.382
teaching in that class.

2642
01:26:28.449 --> 01:26:29.117
And I remember

2643
01:26:29.117 --> 01:26:30.151
just asking them,

2644
01:26:30.151 --> 01:26:31.186
Yes, that's not very nice,

2645
01:26:31.186 --> 01:26:32.287
you need to stop.

2646
01:26:32.287 --> 01:26:33.688
And it wasn't--it didn't work.

2647
01:26:33.688 --> 01:26:35.690
And I was wondering what I can say

2648
01:26:35.690 --> 01:26:39.294
or what we can say to those who continue

2649
01:26:39.761 --> 01:26:40.695
to perpetuate

2650
01:26:40.695 --> 01:26:40.962
the problem and make fun of these people,

2651
01:26:40.962 --> 01:26:41.095
because I feel like sometimes just simple

2652
01:26:41.095 --> 01:26:42.664
words don't work.

2653
01:26:42.664 --> 01:26:47.802
[Keith Jones] Okay, we're in public,

2654
01:26:47.802 --> 01:26:48.536
so I won't tell you

2655
01:26:48.536 --> 01:26:51.306
what I'd really do, but

2656
01:26:52.774 --> 01:26:55.343
um, but one of the things is, like,

2657
01:26:56.411 --> 01:26:58.179
some people are just asses, like,

2658
01:26:58.179 --> 01:26:59.914
I dunno, like, legitimately,

2659
01:26:59.914 --> 01:27:01.849
like they're their school bullies.

2660
01:27:01.849 --> 01:27:02.650
Right.

2661
01:27:03.017 --> 01:27:05.220
Um, but what you'll say is, you know,

2662
01:27:06.221 --> 01:27:06.521
you know,

2663
01:27:06.521 --> 01:27:07.655
you can try to be reasonable,

2664
01:27:07.655 --> 01:27:09.157
you--never lower yourself.

2665
01:27:09.157 --> 01:27:10.458
That's number one.

2666
01:27:10.491 --> 01:27:12.694
Never never go to that level.

2667
01:27:12.694 --> 01:27:13.695
You'll just say,

2668
01:27:13.695 --> 01:27:14.429
and one of the things is like,

2669
01:27:14.429 --> 01:27:16.197
You're picking on him, but

2670
01:27:16.197 --> 01:27:17.265
he has friends.

2671
01:27:18.566 --> 01:27:19.901
You don't.

2672
01:27:19.901 --> 01:27:23.037
Truth will shut

2673
01:27:23.037 --> 01:27:26.307
people up really quickly.

2674
01:27:26.307 --> 01:27:27.609
And if they're constantly making

2675
01:27:27.609 --> 01:27:28.509
fun of the people,

2676
01:27:28.509 --> 01:27:29.510
and it's just simple question,

2677
01:27:29.510 --> 01:27:31.546
like, Why you got to pick on them?

2678
01:27:32.280 --> 01:27:33.881
And if he [shrugs] --

2679
01:27:33.881 --> 01:27:35.683
You don't have a reason, huh?

2680
01:27:35.683 --> 01:27:37.018
So what's

2681
01:27:37.018 --> 01:27:37.986
insecure about your life

2682
01:27:37.986 --> 01:27:40.021
that you got to pick on him?

2683
01:27:40.855 --> 01:27:41.756
Ask the question.

2684
01:27:41.756 --> 01:27:43.791
Make them explain why

2685
01:27:43.791 --> 01:27:45.960
they need to talk about somebody.

2686
01:27:45.960 --> 01:27:47.562
In the end,

2687
01:27:47.562 --> 01:27:49.897
it'll force them to do two things:

2688
01:27:50.565 --> 01:27:53.034
shut up or think.

2689
01:27:53.735 --> 01:27:55.570
Hopefully both,

2690
01:27:55.970 --> 01:27:59.274
because as a--when people

2691
01:27:59.507 --> 01:28:02.277
tried to bully me through high school,

2692
01:28:02.277 --> 01:28:04.312
I wasn't having it.

2693
01:28:04.312 --> 01:28:05.246
And the other thing is

2694
01:28:05.246 --> 01:28:05.913
that the person

2695
01:28:05.913 --> 01:28:07.515
who may have been picked on,

2696
01:28:07.515 --> 01:28:08.549
is that the conversation

2697
01:28:08.549 --> 01:28:11.519
you have with them is that

2698
01:28:11.519 --> 01:28:13.521
sometimes people are going to look at you

2699
01:28:13.521 --> 01:28:14.188
and either

2700
01:28:14.188 --> 01:28:15.490
see your disability or not

2701
01:28:15.490 --> 01:28:17.525
see it and just make assumptions about

2702
01:28:17.525 --> 01:28:18.559
what you can and can't do.

2703
01:28:19.627 --> 01:28:21.162
Don't pay no attention to them.

2704
01:28:21.162 --> 01:28:24.065
The best revenge is success.

2705
01:28:24.065 --> 01:28:24.932
And you know,

2706
01:28:24.932 --> 01:28:26.801
because if you say that to the students

2707
01:28:26.801 --> 01:28:27.735
you're working with

2708
01:28:27.735 --> 01:28:28.636
and you show them

2709
01:28:28.636 --> 01:28:30.138
that you believe in them

2710
01:28:30.138 --> 01:28:32.540
as who they--as a human,

2711
01:28:32.540 --> 01:28:34.309
as just being a student,

2712
01:28:34.309 --> 01:28:35.977
not being a special ed student,

2713
01:28:35.977 --> 01:28:37.145
not being in this class,

2714
01:28:37.145 --> 01:28:39.113
but just as John or Keith

2715
01:28:39.113 --> 01:28:41.215
or Bill or Sue or whatever,

2716
01:28:41.215 --> 01:28:41.783
they're just who

2717
01:28:41.783 --> 01:28:44.819
they are--that will empower them to then

2718
01:28:44.819 --> 01:28:46.954
take on that bully the next time.

2719
01:28:47.922 --> 01:28:49.390
And then the bully has

2720
01:28:49.390 --> 01:28:50.758
Oh, you're still talking trash.

2721
01:28:50.758 --> 01:28:53.194
And then but then how tough are you?

2722
01:28:53.194 --> 01:28:53.961
Right.

2723
01:28:54.295 --> 01:28:55.029
Then, you know,

2724
01:28:55.029 --> 01:28:55.963
do you really want to embarrass

2725
01:28:55.963 --> 01:28:56.631
somebody like Dude,

2726
01:28:56.631 --> 01:28:57.632
how tough are you picking on

2727
01:28:57.632 --> 01:29:00.268
a dude with a disability? I mean,

2728
01:29:01.736 --> 01:29:02.470
you know, if you fight

2729
01:29:02.470 --> 01:29:03.771
for inclusion, then, yes,

2730
01:29:03.771 --> 01:29:05.039
you--this is what it is.

2731
01:29:05.039 --> 01:29:05.907
But you've framed it

2732
01:29:05.907 --> 01:29:06.908
in that kind of context.

2733
01:29:06.908 --> 01:29:09.844
Like, why do you need to pick on them?

2734
01:29:09.844 --> 01:29:12.580
And the,

2735
01:29:12.580 --> 01:29:14.082
and--if you ask any bully,

2736
01:29:14.082 --> 01:29:15.717
why do they need to be a bully?

2737
01:29:15.717 --> 01:29:17.885
They can never explain it.

2738
01:29:17.885 --> 01:29:18.820
And that's how you that's

2739
01:29:18.820 --> 01:29:20.221
how you diffuse it.

2740
01:29:20.221 --> 01:29:21.489
And you'll show that the person

2741
01:29:21.489 --> 01:29:22.690
who is being picked on,

2742
01:29:22.690 --> 01:29:24.125
that they also can have

2743
01:29:24.125 --> 01:29:24.926
that kind of power

2744
01:29:24.926 --> 01:29:27.562
to own their identity and be proud of it.

2745
01:29:28.696 --> 01:29:29.430
So that

2746
01:29:29.964 --> 01:29:32.333
there's just some techniques to help you,

2747
01:29:32.333 --> 01:29:33.134
all right?

2748
01:29:33.134 --> 01:29:33.434
Thanks.

2749
01:29:33.434 --> 01:29:36.938
[host] Keith, I think we need to stop

2750
01:29:36.971 --> 01:29:37.739
so we can get over

2751
01:29:37.739 --> 01:29:40.274
to see the other students.

2752
01:29:40.274 --> 01:29:41.576
All right. Thank you, everyone.

2753
01:29:41.576 --> 01:29:42.977
Thank you. All right. [Applause].